Canon Andrew White, known as The Vicar of Baghdad, will be visiting us to baptize his grandson on Sunday December 7th, at 6pm in the Chapel. Ray David will interview him regarding the church in Iraq and the intense persecution faced by the church in that region, as well as his new work in Israel. This will be a special and likely large event, so don’t miss the opportunity to hear this man speak.
The Reverend Canon Dr Andrew White is the Chaplain of St George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad, Iraq. He has led St George’s Church, in the heart of Baghdad, since 1998 and divides his time between Iraq and the UK. He is currently working in Israel to bring peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
He is rarely at home in Hampshire and frequently has a packed speaking and preaching itinerary which takes him all over the UK as well as to North America.
Canon Andrew is also the President of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East which exists to support his unique work at St George’s and in reconciliation. When not in Baghdad or travelling, Andrew’s home base is in Hampshire with his wife Caroline and his two sons Jacob and Josiah.
Andrew White studied at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London qualifying as an Operating Department Practitioner in 1985. Following St. Thomas’, he trained for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge University, and also studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Andrew is also an Eric Lane Fellow at Clare College, Cambridge. Andrew served as a Curate at St. Mark’s, Battersea Rise in London, after which he became Vicar of the Church of Ascension, Balham Hill, also in London. While vicar, Andrew entered into politics, performing duties as a Wandsworth Borough Counsellor acting as Deputy Chairman of Social Services – the only Conservative politician who was also an Anglican priest at that time.
In 1998, Andrew was installed as the Director of International Ministry for the Diocese and Cathedral of Coventry. Soon after he began to head Coventry’s international ministry of reconciliation, Andrew became the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Special Envoy to the Middle East – the first to take up the position since Terry Waite. During this time, Andrew became actively involved in the Middle East helping to lead the negotiations during the Siege of the Church of the Nativity in 2002 and helping draft the First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land and the Baghdad Religious Accord, both of which were instrumental in bringing together key religious leaders of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths.
