On 22nd June 2025, The Rev’d Dr Harri Williams SSC was announced as the next Principal of S Stephen’s House, Oxford.

Fr Harri will cease to be Vicar of the Benefice in early September ahead of his licensing as Principal in October.

We thank Fr Harri and Clare most profoundly for their presence and ministry among us, and wish them well as they prepare begin a new chapter in their lives.

The following is the Press Release from S Stephen’s House:

St Stephen’s House, Oxford, has today announced that The Revd Dr Harri Williams SSC, currently Vicar of the Benefice of Walsingham in the Diocese of Norwich, has been appointed as its new Principal.

Fr Harri was born in Cardiff and grew up in South Wales. He read Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford, during which time he was Sacristan of Pusey House. His doctorate explores the campaign against the disestablishment of the Church in Wales. After ordination he served his title in the Parish of Haverfordwest. He was then appointed Vicar of Milford Haven before being appointed to the Walsingham Benefice. Fr Harri is married to Clare, who works as Head of Schools & Family Learning at Norwich Cathedral.

St Stephen’s House offers the full range of undergraduate and graduate theological qualifications of the University of Oxford for ordinands, clergy and lay workers to prepare people for ministry in the Church of England. It is also validated by the University of Durham as a Theological Education Institution, offering the Common Award for all suitably qualified applicants.

Fr Harri said today: “I am greatly honoured to have been appointed as Principal. As St Stephen’s House approaches the 150th anniversary of its foundation, it will be a privilege to lead an institution which has, and continues to make a distinct contribution to the theological formation of those preparing to serve in ministry as priests and also as laity.”

The Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner, Chair of the College Council, added: “Through his ministry as the Vicar of Walsingham, Fr Harri Williams is already widely known as an energetic, resourceful and diligent parish priest. We confidently expect that his appointment as Principal of St Stephen’s House will keep spiritual discipline, theological acumen, and imaginative pastoral and evangelisation skills at the centre of contemporary formation. We look forward to the unfolding of his vision for the development of an inherited pattern of training that will meet new demands in shaping ordained and lay people in the catholic tradition of the Church of England.”

Fr Harri will take on the role in the autumn succeeding Canon Robin Ward who served as Principal of St Stephen’s House for nearly two decades.