Arthur Macdonald "Donald" Allchin, published as A. M. Allchin, was a British Anglicanpriest and theologian. He was librarian of Pusey House, Oxford, from 1960 to 1969, a residentiary canon of Canterbury Cathedral from 1973 to 1987, and programme director of the St Theosevia Centre for Christian Spirituality in Oxford from 1987 to 1996.
Allchin was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1956 and as a priest in 1957. From 1956 to 1960, he served his curacy at St Mary Abbots, Kensington in the Diocese of London. In 1960, he joined Pusey House, Oxford as librarian; Pusey House is a "centre of Anglo-Catholic worship and spirituality" that is associated with the University of Oxford. In 1967 or 1968, he additionally became Warden of the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God, an Anglican contemplative community of women based in Oxford; he only relinquished his wardenship in 1994. He was a visiting lecturer at the General Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in New York, in 1967 and in 1968. Allchin left Pusey House in 1969 to become an independent theologian. During this time, he also acted as an adviser to Michael Ramsey, the then Archbishop of Canturbury, on Anglican relations with the Orthodox Church. Then, from 1973 to 1987, he was a residentiary canon of Canterbury Cathedral. From 1973, he took part in the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Discussions, the first of which was held in Oxford. He held a number of visiting academic appointments during this time: at Catholic University of Lyon in 1980, at the Trinity Institute of Trinity Church, New York City in 1983, and at Nashotah House, Wisconsin in 1984. In 1987, Allchin left Canterbury Cathedral to become programme director of the St Theosevra Centre for Christian Spirituality in Oxford. In 1988, he was appointed an "Honorary Provincial Canon" of Canterbury Cathedral. From 1992 until his death, he was an honorary professor at the University of Wales, Bangor. He retired from the St Theosevra Centre in 1994. In retirement, Allchin held a licence to officiate in the Diocese of Canterbury from 1994 to 1997, and permission to officiate in the Diocese of Bangor from 1997 to 2010.
Views
Allchin was a dedicated ecumenist. He had been a member of the Fellowship of Saint Alban and Saint Sergius since he first attended university; this is a Christian society founded to foster relations between the Anglican and Orthodox traditions. He worked closely with another member of that fellowship, H. A. Hodges, in the study of Welsh literature, in particular the work of Ann Griffiths.
