{{Short description|Principle of Oak Hill College in England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Priest | honorific-prefix = The Reverend | name = Mike Ovey | honorific-suffix = | title = Principal of Oak Hill College | image = Michael John Ovey (1).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | church = Church of England | province = | diocese = | term = 2007 to 2017 | predecessor = | successor = | other_post = Lecturer at Moore Theological College, Sydney (1995–1998) <br /> Assistant Curate of All Saints Church, Crowborough (1991–1995) <!---------- Orders ----------> | ordination = 1991 (deacon) <br /> 1992 (priest) | ordained_by = | consecration = | consecrated_by = <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_name = Michael John Ovey | birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|12|9|df=y}} | birth_place = Isle of Wight, United Kingdom | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2017|1|7|1958|12|9}} | death_place = London, England | buried = <!-- or | tomb = --> | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = British | religion = Anglicanism | residence = | parents = | spouse = Heather | children = Three | occupation = | profession = <!-- or | previous_post = --> | education = | alma_mater = Balliol College, Oxford <br /> Ridley Hall, Cambridge <br /> Trinity College, Cambridge <br /> Moore Theological College <br /> King's College, London }} '''Michael John "Mike" Ovey''' (9 December 1958 – 7 January 2017) was a British Anglican clergyman, academic, and former lawyer. From 2007 until his death, he was Principal of Oak Hill College, a conservative evangelical theological college in London, England.
==Early life and education== Ovey was born on 9 December 1958 on the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom.<ref name="Who's Who 2016">{{cite web|title=OVEY, Rev. Dr Michael John|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U247206|website=Who's Who 2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|accessdate=18 November 2016|date=November 2015}}</ref> He studied at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1981.<ref name="Crockford">{{Crockford| surname = Ovey | forenames = Michael John | id = 24564 | accessed = 18 November 2016}}</ref> He remained at Balliol College to study for the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree, a postgraduate degree, which he completed in 1982.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" /> He then worked as a lawyer in the Civil Service where he would help draft government legislation.<ref name="bio - OHC">{{cite web|title=Mike Ovey|url=http://www.oakhill.ac.uk/teaching_staff/mike_ovey.html|website=oakhill.ac.uk|publisher=Oak Hill College|accessdate=18 November 2016}}</ref>
In 1988, Ovey matriculated into Ridley Hall, Cambridge, an Evangelical Anglican theological college, to train for ordained ministry.<ref name="Crockford" /> During this time, he also studied theology at Trinity College, Cambridge, from which he graduated with a further BA degree in 1991.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" /> After three years training, he left Ridley Hall to be ordained in the Church of England.<ref name="Crockford" />
Ovey continued his studies during his ministry. He graduated with a Master of Theology (MTh) degree from Moore Theological College (accredited by the Australian College of Theology) in 2000.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" /><ref name="Crockford" /> He undertook postgraduate research at King's College, London (a constituent college of the University of London), completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2005.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" /><ref name="Thesis">{{cite web|last1=Ovey|first1=Michael John|title=The eternal relation between the Father and the Son and its handling by selected patristic theologians, with particular reference to John's Gospel|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.417324|website=E-Thesis Online Service|publisher=The British Library|accessdate=18 November 2016|date=2005}}</ref> His doctoral thesis was titled ''The Eternal Relation between the Father and the Son and Its Handling by Selected Patristic Theologians, with Particular Reference to John's Gospel''.<ref name="Thesis" />
==Ordained ministry== Ovey was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1991 and as a priest in 1992.<ref name="Crockford" /> From 1991 to 1995, he served his curacy at All Saints Church, Crowborough in the Diocese of Chichester.<ref name="Crockford" /><ref name="bio - OHC" /> He then moved to Australia, where he worked as a Junior Lecturer at Moore Theological College, Sydney.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" />
Having returned to England in 1998, Ovey joined the staff of Oak Hill College, a conservative evangelical theological college in London, as the Kingham Hill Research Fellow.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" /><ref name="Crockford" /><ref name="bio - OHC" /> From 2005 to 2007, he was also a lecturer and the College Dean.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" /> He was Principal of Oak Hill Theological College from 2007 until his death in 2017.<ref name="Crockford" />
===Views=== Ovey identified as a reformed evangelical.<ref>{{cite web|title=About us - organization|url=http://www.churchsociety.org/aboutus/OurWork/Organization.asp|website=Church Society|accessdate=10 January 2017|quote=Mike is a reformed evangelical and is convinced that this alone is authentic Anglicanism to which the Church of England should be committed.}}</ref> He held complementarian beliefs: that men and women are "equal but different".<ref name="obit EN" /> In 2013, he addressed the second Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) that was being held in Nairobi, Kenya.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mike Ovey - a statement by the General Secretary|url=https://www.gafcon.org/news/mike-ovey-a-statement-by-the-general-secretary|website=gafcon.org|publisher=Global Anglican Future Conference|date=9 January 2017|accessdate=11 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Ovey |first1=Mike |title=The Grace of God OR the World of the West? |url=https://www.gafcon.org/sites/gafcon.org/files/resources/files/The_Grace_of_God_or_the_world_of_the_West.pdf |website=www.gafcon.org |access-date=28 June 2023 |date=2013}}</ref> Following his death, he was described by Wallace Benn as "the foremost conservative evangelical theologian of his times".<ref name="obit EN">{{cite web |last1=Benn |first1=Wallace |title=Mike Ovey 1958 –2017 |url=https://www.e-n.org.uk/2017/03/uk-news/mike-ovey-1958-2017/54878/ |website=Evangelicals Now |access-date=28 June 2023 |language=en |date=March 2017}}</ref>
==Death== Ovey died suddenly of a heart attack on 7 January 2017; he was aged 58.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mike Ovey|url=http://blog.oakhill.ac.uk/blog/entry/mike_ovey/|website=Oak Hill Blog|publisher=Oak Hill College|accessdate=8 January 2017|date=8 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet |author= Church Society |author-link= Church Society |user= @ChurchSociety |number= 818025894598086656 |date= 8 January 2017 |title= Please pray for the family and friends of Mike Ovey, Principal of Oak Hill College, who died suddenly yesterday. |access-date= 8 January 2017 }}</ref> His funeral was held at Enfield Evangelical Free Church on 23 January 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Funeral thanksgiving service for Mike Ovey|url=http://oakhill2.ablette.net/blog/entry/funeral_thanksgiving_service_for_mike_ovey/|website=Oak Hill College|accessdate=21 June 2017|date=24 January 2017}}</ref>
==Personal life== In 1987, Ovey married Heather Elizabeth Jefferyes.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" /> Together they had three children:<ref name="bio - OHC" /> one daughter and two sons.<ref name="Who's Who 2016" />
==Selected works== * {{cite book |last1=Jeffery |first1=Steve |last2=Ovey |first2=Michael |last3=Sach |first3=Andrew |authorlink3=Andrew Sach |title=Pierced for our transgressions: rediscovering the glory of penal substitution |date=2007 |publisher=Inter-Varsity Press |location=Nottingham |isbn=978-1844741786}} * {{cite book |last1=Ovey |first1=Michael |last2=Strange |first2=Daniel |title=Confident: Why we can trust the Bible |date=2015 |publisher=Christian Focus Publications |location=Fearn |isbn=978-1781915547}} * {{cite book |last1=Ovey |first1=Michael |title=Your Will Be Done: Exploring Eternal Subordination, Divine Monarchy and Divine Humility |date=2016 |publisher=The Latimer Trust |location=London |isbn=978-1906327408}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Moore Theological College}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ovey, Mike}} Category:1958 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Members of the Bar of England and Wales Category:20th-century English Anglican priests Category:21st-century English Anglican priests Category:Evangelical Anglican clergy Category:Evangelical Anglican theologians Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:Academic staff of Moore Theological College Category:Moore Theological College alumni Category:Alumni of King's College London Category:Alumni of Ridley Hall, Cambridge Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:People from the Isle of Wight