Steven Croft was born in Halifax in 1957. He graduated from Oxford in 1980 and went on to study for the priesthood in Durham at Cranmer Hall, St John's College. It was there that he was awarded his doctorate in 1984.
After being ordained in London in 1983 he served as Curate of St. Andrew's, Enfield between 1983-87 before returning to Yorkshire as Vicar of Ovenden in the Diocese of Wakefield between 87-96. For the last three years he was also diocesan mission adviser.
An invitation to become Warden of his own theological college came in 1996 so Steven and his family returned to Durham to lead the training of men and women for Church of England ministry.
He thrived in his new responsibilities and wrote widely about his experiences as a parish priest and began to express increasing concern about how urgent is the task for the Church to re-engage with huge swathes of the population which it had completely lost touch with.
Shortly after Rowan Williams was appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury, Steven was appointed as Archbishops' Missioner and Leader of the Fresh Expressions team.
In the past four years he has overseen the emergence of Fresh Expressions - an initiative of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in conjunction with the Methodist Church aimed at encouraging new ways of being church in the 21st century.
He was a member of the Church of England Evangelical Council from 1997-2000 and a member of the steering group for Anglican Church Planting Initiatives and the Sheffield Centre from 1996-2002.
He has been a member of the Finance Panel and of the Theological Education and Training Committee of the Ministry Division and of the Publishing Board of the Archbishops’ Council.
He is a co-author of Emmaus: the way of faith (1996-2003), a set of resources for Christian nurture widely used in the UK and across the world. He is author or co-author of a number of books including Ministry in Three Dimensions (1999 and 2008); and Travelling Well (with Stephen Cottrell) (2000). His first novel for children and adults, The Advent Calendar was published in 2006.
The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms, Sheffield Academic Press, 1987
Growing New Christians, CPAS/Marshall Pickering, 1993
Making New Disciples, Marshall Pickering, 1994
Emmaus: the Way of Faith (with Stephen Cottrell, John Finney, Felicity Lawson and Robert Warren), NS/CHP, six volumes, 1996; two volumes, 1998; second edition 200-2003.
Man to Man: Friendship and Faith, Scripture Union, 1999
Ministry in Three Dimensions: Ordination and Leadership in the Local Church, DLT, 1999, second edition, 2008
Travelling Well: A companion guide to the Christian faith (with Stephen Cottrell), NS/CHP, 2000.
The Lord is Risen: Luke 24, Emmaus Bible Resources 1, NS/CHP, 2002
Missionary Journeys, Missionary Church: Acts 13-20, Emmaus Bible Resources 2, NS/CHP 2002
Transforming Communities: Re-Imagining the Church for the 21st Century, DLT, 2002
A Theology of Christian Leadership in Focus on Leadership, Foundation for Church Leadership, 2005.
Learning for Ministry (with Roger Walton), CHP, 2005
Evangelism in a Spiritual Age, (with Rob Frost, Mark Ireland, Anne Richards, Yvonne Richmond and Nick Spencer), CHP, 2005
Moving on in a Mission Shaped Church, (booklet with George Lings), CHP, 2005
Starting a Fresh Expression, (booklet with George Lings and Claire Dalpra), CHP 2006
Listening for Mission (booklet with Bob Hopkins and Freddy Hedley) CHP, 2006
Bishops’ Mission Orders, a beginners’ guide (booklet with Paul Bayes) CHP, 2008
Encouraging fresh expressions (booklet), Fresh Expressions, 2008
The Future of the Parish System: shaping the Church of England for the 21st Century (editor and contributor), CHP, 2006
The Advent Calendar (a novel for adults and children), DLT, 2006
Mission-shaped Questions: defining issues for today’s church, (editor and contributor), CHP, 2008
Ecclesiastes in Reflections for Daily Prayer (Advent to 2 before Lent), CHP, 2008
Personal Profile of Steven Croft: