Vaughan Roberts


Vaughan Edward Roberts is a Church of England clergyman. Since 1998, he has been the rector of St Ebbe's, Oxford. In 2009, he became Director of the Proclamation Trust.

Early life

Roberts was born on 17 March 1965 in Winchester, Hampshire, UK. He was educated at Winchester College which is an all-boys public school in Winchester.
He studied law at Selwyn College, Cambridge and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts degree in 1991. In 1987, he was President of the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union.
After graduation, he spent a short time in student ministry in South Africa.. Roberts then moved to Oxford and in 1989 entered Wycliffe Hall, an Anglican theological college. There, he studied theology and undertook training for ordained ministry.

Ordained ministry

Roberts was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1991 and as a priest in 1992. In 1991, he joined St Ebbe's Church, Oxford, a conservative evangelical church, as a curate under David Fletcher. From 1995 to 1998, he was the Student Pastor with special responsibilities for students and student ministry. In 1998, when Fletcher retired, Roberts was appointed Rector of St Ebbe's.
Since 2009, Roberts has also been Director of the Proclamation Trust, an evangelical Christian association dedicated to training preachers in expository preaching. He has written a number of Christian books, including Turning Points, Distinctives, Battles Christians Face, True Worship, Life's Big Questions and God's Big Picture.

Views

In 2017, he was among the initial signatories of the Nashville Statement.

Personal life

In the fifth anniversary edition of Battles Christians Face a new preface was added in which Roberts acknowledged struggles with unwanted same-sex attraction. He later publicly confirmed this in an interview, adding that he does not define himself as homosexual. He has chosen to remain celibate.

Works