Talk:Martyn Percy

Canon Theologian, Sheffield

The Sheffield Diocesan Website has news of the appointment of a new Canon Theologian http://www.sheffield.anglican.org/index.php/home/about-the-bishops/bishop-steven/latest-news/3321-new-canon-theologian-of-sheffield-cathedral- There is no mention of Martyn Percy in this. Is there any source to say he has stood down from this post? Or was it a fixed term appointment? Either way it does look like he no longer holds this post, but I don't have a source explicitly saying this. ChapterandVerse (talk) 11:28, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

New appointment

Percy is appointed to be the next Dean of Christ Church, see Deanery of Christ Church, Oxford: Reverend Canon Professor Martyn Percy. Someone more acquainted with editing articles in wikipedia might be able to incorporate this change. --85.16.211.199 (talk) 11:25, 7 May 2014 (UTC)

Referencing

@Springnuts: you've placed a refimprove template on the page without making a case. It's a little difficult to intuit your reasons, given that I see 49 references, mostly of good quality. As a comparison, the heads of nearby colleges have pages that are less well referenced:

• Merton, Martin J. Taylor: 8 references
• Brasenose, John Bowers: 8 references
• Corpus Christi, Helen Moore: 3 references
• Oriel, Neil Mendoza: 12 references.

Every page on Wikipedia could be better referenced, but I this that this template should be reserved for those pages with more egregious problems. If there is a particular point that you're concerned about, it would be better to use an inline citation template? NB: I have a part-time job at Christ Church, so should declare a COI; although my job doesn't involve college marketing! Klbrain (talk) 17:45, 29 January 2019 (UTC)

• Please put some more refs in - I think I had noticed some sections entirely without refs, eg "Cuddesdon". I think adding refs is absolutely not going to get anyone worked up on COI grounds! In the past I have been WP:Bold and just removed whole sections of articles when they have no refs at all, but I am much more mellow now! Springnuts (talk) 15:04, 15 February 2019 (UTC)

Better safe than sorry on the COI; I've added a few reference in the Cuddeson section, supporting the building venture, mergers and role of women. There is, as ever, always more to be done. Klbrain (talk) 12:41, 16 February 2019 (UTC)

Deanery of Christ Church subsections

I have removed content sourced to the college website (not independent) and Surviving Church blog (not a reliable source) from the "2020 Accusation of sexual harassment and 2021 investigation" subsection following WP:BLPSOURCE, which says "contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced should be removed immediately and without discussion". It is likely that reliable sources will cover the latest developments in due course. TSventon (talk) 20:12, 14 March 2021 (UTC)

Split not discussed

 Courtesy link: Draft:2018–21 Christ Church disputes

I note that that a contentious split has been performed without discussion, at least not here, and not at Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard/Archive325#Martyn Percy. Particularly for contentious splits, this should really be discussed first (see WP:PROSPLIT). I can see the reason for wanting a split, but it is a delicate matter. Also, @Anglicanicus: when splitting content, in order to ensure attribution, you should use the copied template on the talk page. Klbrain (talk) 11:51, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

@Klbrain: I would suggest that the split should be reversed and the new article draftified pending a discussion. I am also concerned about the content of the dispute sections. I removed some content sourced to the college as explained above but that was reverted by a new account. Also some content seems to be incorrect e.g. "he is the highest-paid cleric in the Church of England, earning more than the Archbishop of Canterbury." The cited article says "he is paid more than some of the country’s most senior clergymen — including the Archbishop of Canterbury". I can't check all the citations as some are behind paywalls. TSventon (talk) 18:05, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

@TSventon: agree with reversing the undiscussed and contentious split; draftify the new article and correct the text to match the sources all sound like helpful measures. Klbrain (talk) 21:36, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

COI declaration: I have a teaching contract with Christ Church; I'm not employed to edit for them. Given this COI, I don't perform major actions on this page, and am happy to be reversed. Klbrain (talk) 21:36, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

References

@Anglicanicus: I have reversed the split as I agree with @Klbrain: that this split should be discussed before implementing it. Also pinging @HelenDegenerate: who reverted a related edit. TSventon (talk) 21:59, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

@Anglicanicus: I corrected some information not supported by the FT article of March 2019, e.g. "he is the highest-paid cleric in the Church of England, earning more than the Archbishop of Canterbury", but you have restored the previous version. If that was intentional, please can you explain? TSventon (talk) 21:55, 12 April 2021 (UTC)

@TSventon: Apologies, unintentional! Anglicanicus (talk) 23:25, 12 April 2021 (UTC)

Likens experiences to victims of Nazi persecution

I have removed a section about an article on Percy's website as it was disproportionate and sourced to Twitter and a student newspaper. TSventon (talk) 22:19, 6 December 2021 (UTC)

Hi Tsventon, it appears a very similar article has been published in the Daily Mail and on the campaign against antisemitism website would those be more appropriate sources? SbOd-5597 (talk) 09:28, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

SbOd-5597, I would not include what Percy wrote on his website in the article at all: Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a newspaper explains how "most newsworthy events do not qualify for inclusion" in Wikipedia. The article does not mention other quotes like "Does anyone know any good poisoners?" In any case a whole paragraph is excessive.

Wikipedia does not use the Daily Mail as a source, see Wikipedia:DAILYMAIL. TSventon (talk) 13:31, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

References

Thanks TSventon that's very helpful. I'll read those links. SbOd-5597 (talk) 15:24, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

Use of Wikipedia Page for Self Promotion

I am declaring a COI as I am the woman Martyn Percy (redacted). I have never had an account/edited before so please forgive any errors. This page is subject to self-promotion by supporters of Martyn Percy and a gives a twisted version of recent events - and attempts to obscure the allegation of sexual harassment/assault I made against him. This used to be obvious on this page, but has now disappeared. I don't think I can make any changes due to my COI but if someone could look at the changes made by the users Clibil and DrDL recently in particular I'd be very grateful. A1992J (talk) 15:15, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

It's probably best to read the guidelines on Biographies of Living Persons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons#Using_BLPs_to_continue_disputes. Among other things, they make it clear that the guidelines apply to talk pages as well to articles. So "Contentious material about living persons (or, in some cases, recently deceased) that is unsourced or poorly sourced—whether the material is negative, positive, neutral, or just questionable—must be removed immediately and without waiting for discussion." applies here too. An assertion as fact that (redacted) occurred clearly falls into this category.

That page also shows how to get in touch with administrators, who may be the best people to make a judgement. Snugglepuss (talk) 20:42, 11 December 2022 (UTC)

• I'm an administrator. I have redacted the portion of A1992J's statement which claimed this individual committed a crime against them. That cannot be stated as fact, even on talk pages, unless this person was convicted in a court of law of that crime. If reliable sources report on allegations, that can be discussed, but not in a way that suggests guilt. 331dot (talk) 20:30, 22 January 2023 (UTC)

  Could you also redact my mention of the allegation (11 December 2022), as redacting the allegation but leaving my reference to it doesn't really redact it at all. And the redaction is so incomplete that the nature of the allegation is easy to guess, or at least to speculate on. Snugglepuss (talk) 09:59, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

  Snugglepuss, I don't think your post needs to be redacted, but I will ping 331dot anyway. The allegations were removed from the article, which was arguably not justified per WP:PUBLICFIGURE. TSventon (talk) 10:41, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

  I think the statement was okay but out of an abundance of caution I redacted it. 331dot (talk) 15:57, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

contentious edits

We noticed contributions on an article about which people seem both knowledgeable and passionate. Thanks for helping! A friendly suggestion: approach your addition to the encyclopedia as though it were an important school assignment worthy of your precious time. Gather your sources, scribble a draft, let someone suggest edits, write it all down, tidy it all up, make sure it's sourced (make dam'd sure it's sourced) and the changes you're attempting will likely find a way into the article, given both factual and appropriately sourced.

the back and forth bickering via edits will be removed according to a strict interpretation regarding policy on biographical articles. better to take this debate to the talk page for resolution, kids. Saintstephen000 (talk) 20:37, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

Thanks Saintstephen000 This page is a mess. I discovered that a lot of the sources don't align with what is stated in the article. A quick scan back through the edit history shows this isn't the first time users have attempted to add contentious material and edit warring has occurred. Maybe the page needs to be blocked for a time? 122.58.85.184 (talk) 21:46, 22 April 2023 (UTC)

Saintstephen000, did you check the edits that you reverted? They seem to be following WP:BLPREMOVE by removing contentious material that is unsourced or poorly sourced. As the IP editor says, the article is a mess. The article has suffered from WP:Single-purpose account editing since it was created, so it would be difficult to find a good version to revert back to. TSventon (talk) 10:33, 23 April 2023 (UTC)

i read over the issue, thoroughly i thought.

i attempted to revert to the last clean version, before the contested edits.

if you have more knowledge regarding this topic or have followed the argue-by-editing that i witnessed, please fix accordingly.

i will go back and learn from your changes.

thanks for your help,

Saintstephen000 (talk) Saintstephen000 (talk) 15:20, 23 April 2023 (UTC)

Saintstephen000, I don't think there is an easy answer. The hard answer is to check that the wording of the Christ Church disputes section is sourced to independent sources and agrees to what they say, which I don't have time to do. However the edits you reversed look reasonable, so I would incline to reinstate them. Also your talk page message is confusing because it doesn't say who you are addressing , which will be even less obvious in a month's time. Also you say "we noticed", which could imply you are sharing an account, which is not allowed. Possibly page protection would be helpful as well. TSventon (talk) 18:53, 23 April 2023 (UTC)

thank you for the prompt reply.

noted on the talk page protocol, i can see where specifically addressing individual editors will be helpful. thank you.

as regards the content, when we stumbled upon the article, we seemingly entered into a topic better left to experienced editors experts on this specific topic.

going to read along for a spell, see what can be made of it.

on the odd use of the regal we, it comes from existing and interacting as a multiplicity inhabiting a single consciousness.

personal quirk: we are an us. and only one meat-sack interacts with this account.

reading up on customs around leaving messages and notes.

thanks again for your help,

Saintstephen000 (talk) Saintstephen000 (talk) 19:06, 23 April 2023 (UTC)

Revised Edit Request: Updates to Early Life, Education, and Current Career (2022–2026)

I am a relative of the subject, as disclosed on my user page. Following the helpful feedback regarding inline citations and template formatting, I am resubmitting these objective factual updates. I have used standard Wikipedia citation templates and ensured that all links point to the correct internal Wikipedia articles.

(update in new topic)

I believe this revised formatting satisfies the technical requirements for inline citations and internal linking. Thank you for your review. GPercyDM (talk) 12:54, 5 February 2026 (UTC)

Not done for now
Thank you for your submission! Unfortunately, your edit request is not being implemented at this time. This is because:

1. Your proposed revision lacks inline citations. Please cite your references using inline citations throughout your proposed text using the guidance outlined at Wikipedia:Citing sources#Inline citations and Wikipedia:Inline citation and/or try clicking the "cite" button on your editor.
2. Your citations are missing necessary information. This is noted by the red text that appears in the citation. Please add the relevant information as noted by this red text. More information on citations in Wikipedia is available at Wikipedia:Citing sources.
3. Your citations are currently not formatted in accordance with Wikipedia's policy/guidelines besides the two issues specified above. Please reformat your citations using Wikipedia's general citation styles outlined at Wikipedia:Citing sources and Wikipedia:Inline citation.

Feel free to open another COI edit request once you've addressed these issues. Thanks. - Otherwise (Talk?) 21:10, 2 February 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for your feedback @Mustbeotherwise.

I have now adjusted the citations for what I believe is now corrected if you could please have a look again.

Or shall I just open up a new thread/edit request totally seperatley? GPercyDM (talk) 19:39, 21 February 2026 (UTC)

Adjustment to introduction and early life and education

I am a relative of the subject, as on my user page.

I have now attempted to rewrite the text in my own words fully as advised by Deacon Verabis. I have attempted to do the citations according to the guide, but it is not clear to me how to update to the WHOS WHO to the 2026 version I have done previously. So I have done a new citation here using the templates.

I have used the shorted references for the ones already in use and with names such as the PhD thesis and Crockfords 22.

I also propose citation 7, 44, 45, 46 be given a name as couldn't do a short form in here.

Introduction

For the introduction I propose too keep it up to date rather than just 'others from 2022'.

Martyn William Percy (born 31 July 1962) is a British academic, theologian, social scientist, and Anglican priest. He served as the 45th Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, from 2014 to 2022 , and as Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon from 2004 to 2014 . Percy is known for his theological contributions to ecclesiology, contemporary Christianity, and Anglican identity .

He is currently the Professor of Religion and Culture at the University of Saint Joseph in Macao , Honorary Provost Theologian at Ming Hua Theological College in Hong Kong , Honorary Canon Theologian for the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe , Senior Research Fellow at the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen , and Research Professor at the University of Bern in Switzerland .

Early life and education

Then I propose for the Early life and education to be more efficient and the full title of the thesis not needed:

Percy was born on 31 July 1962 . He was educated at the University of Bristol (BA) , the University of Sheffield (MEd), and King’s College London (PhD, 1993). His doctoral thesis was titled “Signs, Wonders and Church Growth” . He trained for ordination at Cranmer Hall, Durham, from 1988 to 1990 .

GPercyDM (talk) 19:04, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

I've revised along the lines mentioned, but tried to limit to stronger sources and stay within what I could confirm. The birth date is repeated, and I place the reference in the "Early life" section. I have omitted cross-links to well-understood words (Christianity, Switzerland, e.g.)

Feel free to start a new request if I've dropped the ball. Fiske (talk) 17:17, 11 May 2026 (UTC)

Many thanks @Fiske GPercyDM (talk) 10:33, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

References

Citations needed maintenance tag

The page carries a banner noting the need for more citations. This tag was added in January 2019, at which point this page had half as many references. Several sections still need better sourcing: "Career", "Other roles", parts of "Theology", and "Personal life". I have tagged the passages that stood out to me with.

I think it would not require too much effort to clear the maintenance tag. Fiske (talk) 17:47, 11 May 2026 (UTC)