Mark Howard Francis Beach (born 1962) is a priest of the Church of England. He was the Dean of Rochester Cathedral from 2012 to January 2015 ^[1] when he became the director of Blackfriars Settlement. ^[2]

Early life and education

Beach grew up in Staffordshire. ^[3] He studied theology at the University of Kent for his BA degree in 1980 ^[4] and completed an MA degree in mission and ministry studies at the University of Nottingham in 1995. ^[4] At King's College London he completed a University of London doctorate in ministry (DMin) in 2011. ^{[4] [1]} Beach came out to his father as gay when he was 17 but was told "no son of mine is gay" so he went on to marry a woman. ^[5]

Ordained ministry

Beach trained for ordained ministry at St Stephen's House from 1985 to 1987. ^[4] His curacy was at Hucknall Torkard in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. He then moved to the parish of Gedling, a few miles away in the same diocese, as rector from 1993 to 2001. ^[1] He was the bishop's chaplain in the Diocese of Wakefield from 2001 to 2003 before going to Rugby, Warwickshire, as a team rector. ^[1] He left Rugby in 2012 to take up the appointment of Dean of Rochester. ^{[1] [6]} In January 2015 it was announced that he had resigned from this position because of issues regarding his marriage break-up. ^[7]

Post resignation

In late January the Bishop of Rochester announced that "Beach is taking on a new role outside ordained ministry, and has been appointed to the post of director of the Blackfriars Settlement." ^[8] In October 2018, he appeared on the Channel 4 programme First Dates Hotel. ^[5] He revealed on the show that his marriage broke down after he came out to his wife and daughter. ^[5]

Styles

• Mr Mark Beach (until 1987)
• The Revd Mark Beach (1987–2012; 2015–present)
• The Very Revd Mark Beach (2012–2015)

Notes

References

• Beach, Mark (2012), Mark Beach, LinkedIn Corporation, archived from the original on 8 April 2013, retrieved 21 February 2013
• Clarke, Sarah (6 February 2012), "Mark Beach is new Dean of Rochester", KentOnline, KM Group, retrieved 29 July 2015
• Dean & Chapter of Rochester (2013), Who's Who at the Cathedral, archived from the original on 29 May 2013, retrieved 4 April 2013
• Dixon, Rachel (10 October 2018), "Former Dean of Rochester Cathedral looks for love on Channel 4's First Dates Hotel", KentOnline, KM Group, retrieved 6 September 2019
• HM Government (6 February 2012), Dean of Rochester, retrieved 21 February 2013
• Hunter, Chris (25 January 2015), "Dean of Rochester Cathedral, Dr Mark Beach, has resigned", KentOnline, KM group, retrieved 29 July 2015
• London SE1 website team (28 January 2015), "Mark Beach: from cathedral dean to Blackfriars Settlement director", londonse1 community website, Bankside Press, retrieved 29 July 2015{{ citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link)

External links

• Official website of Rochester Cathedral
• Kent Messenger's announcement