He was ordained in 1969 and began his career as a Chaplain to the Forces. From 1973 until 1976 he was a lecturer at Lincoln Theological College and then Rector of St Peter's Hillfields.[4] He then spent 10 years as Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon before his ordination to the episcopate as the Bishop of Plymouth, a position he held from 1996 until his retirement in 2005 after which he was appointed an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Oxford.