The Reverend Dr Alexander Ross is an Honorary Postdoctoral Associate of the University of Divinity and was formally Associate Dean and Bye-Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. His recent research interests include all aspects of Anglican identity and polity.
Dr Ross completed his undergraduate study in Australia before reading for the degree of Master of Theology at the University of Oxford which was awarded with Distinction, supervised by Martyn Percy and examined by Graham Ward. He was awarded a prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship to undertake doctoral study at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of former Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. His doctoral dissertation was published in 2020 by SCM Press under the title ‘A Still More Excellent Way: Authority and Polity in the Anglican Communion’ and has been critically acclaimed, described by Rowan Williams in his Foreword as “ground-breaking and profoundly illuminating… an indispensable point of reference for any future work on Anglican doctrines of the Church.”
He continues to be engaged in research and is currently exploring topics including the nature of provincial polity in the Church of Ireland at the time of Union with the Church of England, the ecclesiological assumptions and underpinnings of what he coins ‘altAnglicanism’ through movements such as GAFCON, ACNA and AMiA and their impact on the Anglican Church of Australia, and the further development of the central thesis explored in his doctoral work of a ‘flattened ecclesiology’ in contemporary Anglicanism. He is also currently writing a book chapter with other Trinity College faculty exploring Anglican Ecclesiology and the Gospel of John.
Dr Ross is experienced in planning and teaching units on Anglican identity, history and polity and has previously supervised Masters-level research dissertations.
Beyond his academic interests, Dr Ross is Vicar of St John’s East Malvern with St Agnes’ Glen Huntly. He is an Archbishop’s Examining Chaplain for the Diocese of Melbourne, as well as the Archbishop of Melbourne’s nominee on the Theological School Committee of Trinity College, Melbourne. He is also a member of the Quality and Care Governance Committee of the Brotherhood of St Laurence. He is an elected delegate to the Provincial Council of the Anglican Province of Victoria, as well as the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia. He is also one of nine Anglican theologians appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion to be a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC).
University Appointments
- Honorary Postdoctoral Associate
Trinity College Theological School