The Very Rev John Thomas Farquhar Paterson, who has died in Dublin at the age of 66, was a former dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, and one of the leading ecumenists and experts on liturgy in the Church of Ireland.
John Paterson was born on December 21st, 1938, in Portadown, Co Armagh, the son of Henry and Margaret Elizabeth (née Bell) Paterson. After school at Portadown College, he studied at Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated with a BA in 1961.
He went on to train for ordination in the Church of Ireland and was auditor of the "Theo", the College Theological Society, in 1961-1962. He was ordained deacon in 1963 and priest in 1964 by Archbishop James McCann of Armagh, and for two years he was a curate in Drumglass in the Diocese of Armagh. He returned to Dublin in 1966, when he was appointed curate of St Bartholomew's, Ballsbridge.
St Bartholomew's was long seen as a place for training future leaders of the Church of Ireland. It had been founded to maintain and develop the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and there he was able to develop his skills in liturgy and his love of church history.
In July 1968 he was invited to become Bishop's Curate of St Mark's in Pearse Street. Moving to St Mark's was a difficult undertaking: the congregation of the inner-city parish had been dwindling in numbers, and the church faced inevitable closure.
In March 1970 the parish was amalgamated with St Ann's and St Stephen's. The final service at St Mark's was held on May 31st, 1971, the church was closed, and the building was sold to Trinity College Dublin.
But this was also a time of opportunity for John: he became an assistant dean of residence at TCD, resumed his theological studies, won the Elrington Prize in 1970, and received his BD in 1971. That year St Bartholomew's became vacant with Maurice Carey's move to Cork, and the neighbouring parish of Christ Church, Leeson Park, was about to be amalgamated with St Bartholomew's. John Paterson was invited back, and on January 27th, 1972, he became vicar of St Bartholomew's with Christ Church, Leeson Park.
Meanwhile, Centenary Methodist Church, the cathedral of Dublin Methodism that once stood beside Wesley College on St Stephen's Green, had been destroyed by fire. Rather than embark on a costly rebuilding project, the congregation sought an opportunity to share premises with a neighbouring church.
On September 20th, 1972, a service was held to mark the beginning of a brave new ecumenical venture in which Leeson Park was shared by the Church of Ireland and Methodist congregations. It was a pioneering scheme, which saw John Paterson taking the initiative to heart, and the confidence he and his successor, the present Archbishop of Dublin, built between the two communities helped, in many ways, to pave the way towards the present covenant between the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church.
He remained at St Bartholomew's for six years, and his curates there included Dr Richard Clarke, now Bishop of Meath and Kildare. When John Paterson left St Bartholomew's, he was succeeded by John Neill, now Archbishop of Dublin. In 1978, John Paterson was appointed dean of St Brigid's Cathedral, Kildare. There he edited both a historical guide to the Dioceses of Meath and Kildare and a short history of St Brigid's Cathedral, and was enthused by his work as chaplain at the Curragh. In 1985 he also became lecturer in pastoral liturgy at the Church of Ireland Theological College and was elected one of the clerical honorary secretaries of the General Synod.
In 1989 he was invited by Archbishop Donald Caird to return to Dublin and was installed as dean of Christ Church Cathedral on February 24th, 1989. At the time the Church of Ireland was debating the ordination of women, and John voiced his opposition to what he then saw as a departure from the catholic and apostolic tradition of the church. In 1990 the General Synod passed the legislation enabling the ordination of women as priests and bishops.
His efforts to introduce a "conscience clause" failed, and he resigned as a clerical honorary secretary the following year. Later he not only accepted the new reality within the Church of Ireland but proved, in word and deed, to be a warmly welcoming dean when women were ordained in the cathedral and when the first woman was appointed a canon in the chapter in 1996.
He made it known to his friends that if he were elected a bishop he would have no problems about the ordination of women. However, he remained at Christ Church Cathedral, where he embarked on major fund-raising efforts to restore the fabric, to rebuild the organ and to refurbish the crypt, where the museum and exhibition housing the treasures of Christ Church Cathedral will long remain a lasting tribute to his achievements as dean.
There was exceptional public interest in the cathedral when President McAleese received Holy Communion there; but there was less public attention to his quiet, measured and careful theological and pastoral development of the cathedral's liturgy. Those who were innovative and who realised the need for the renewal of liturgy were made particularly welcome at the cathedral, which played host to two successful Ceiliuradh festivals. He was also determined that Christ Church should develop its role as the cathedral of the capital, and he worked hard to develop the cathedral's inner-city ministry.
Over the years John Paterson contributed to more than half a dozen books on church history, pastoral studies, liturgy and ecumenical relations, published papers in numerous journals, including Pastoral Liturgy, Search, Scripture in Church, the Furrow and Doctrine and Life, contributed to the "Rite and Reason" column in The Irish Times and co-chaired the Church of Ireland Historical Society.
Failing health eventually resulted in a heart transplant on December 12th, 1997, 10 days before his 59th birthday. He was nursed back to health by his close friend, the widowed Patricia Bray. The two were ideal friends, and the friendship blossomed - they were quietly married in the Chapel of the See House on February 3rd, 2001.
John Paterson is survived by his wife Patricia (Pat) and stepsons Geoff and Colin Bray.
The Very Rev John Thomas Farquhar Paterson, born December 21st, 1938, died September 9th, 2005