Paul Campion

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The Revd Paul Andrew Peter Campion SSC,  born 29 June 1990, is an English priest of the Church of England. He is the senior curate (by length of service, not in age) in the Combined Benefice of The Woolfonts, Somerfords, & Harstbournes (The Woolfonts (Woolfont Magna, Woolfont Crucis with Woolfont Parva, & Woolfont Abbas with Wolfdown) with The Somerfords (Somerford Mally with Somerford Canons alias  Canonicorum, Somerford Tout Saints with Lamsford, Cliff Ambries with Shifford Ombres and Combe Woddley als  Waddlycombe) and Harstbournes (Chalford Mallet with Hawksbourne, Harstbourne Fitzwarren with Harstbourne Sallis and Harstbourne Fratrum als  Friars), in Wiltshire; with particular responsibility for the Woolfonts parishes.

Life
Fr Campion was born in Wolverhampton; attended St Peter’s Collegiate School; and took his degree at Keble, for which, as for Oxford, he played murderous rugby and was awarded a full Blue as a member of the OURFC XV, as fly-half. If Canon Paddick has been nicknamed ‘Becks in a biretta’, Fr Campion, both in appearance and in sporting accomplishment, has equally aptly picked up the affectionate tag of ‘Fr Jonny Wilkinson’ in jest, although he is commonly called informally as ‘Fr Paul’ in the parishes.

He subsequently took Orders in the Church of England, studying at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, and taking his MA in Liturgy there in association with the University of Sheffield.

Family
Fr Campion is the son of George Anthony Sebastian Campion, a Wolverhampton solicitor, and his wife Emma, née Gough. Emma Campion played squash at County level in her youth.

Fr Campion’s older brother, Dr Timothy Campion BA MA MSt DMus FRCO, is now the Music and Choir Director, Master of Music, and Organist to the Combined Benefice. Dr Timothy Campion is married, with children; their uncle Fr Paul Campion is the subject of considerable interest, and not a few wagers in the parishes, as to what wife he shall take.

Career
Spotted at an early age by the late the Revd Matthew Pryor MA (Oxon) SSC QHC of S Peter Wolverhampton, Paul Campion was early directed towards a vocation; and Fr Pryor having been Canon Paddicks’ mentor, who had urged the post as rector of the then Woolfonts benefice upon him, it was early arranged that – although Fr Pryor did not live to see it – Paul Campion should serve his title and become Noel Paddick’s curate there: precisely as happened.

He has a special responsibility, jointly with Canon Paddick, for the Woolfonts parishes: SS Mary and Leonard Woolfont Abbas; S Margaret of Antioch Woolfont Magna; and S Aldhelm Woolfont Crucis. He also serves as the lead curate for youth and CLGB sport, and is chaplain to the C of E Voluntary Aided village school and associate chaplain and lecturer in RE to the Beechbourne Free School. A ‘gentle giant’, he is adored confidingly by the youth of the parishes, churched or un-.



Fr Campion is a member of the Society of the Holy Cross.