AN ANGLICAN vicar from Liverpool who had been described as having a "brilliant future ahead of him" was found stabbed to death in the grounds of his church in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Merseyside police have taken the unusual step of naming a "highly dangerous" man they are looking for in connection with the attack.
The vicar, the Rev Christopher Gray (32), was found at 1 a.m. yesterday morning by two neighbours who said they had heard an argument in the grounds of St Margaret's vicarage, Anfield.
The man police are seeking is Mr Terence Peter Storey (31). Merseyside Police revealed last night that in recent weeks Mr Gray had been advising Mr Storey, who was released from Walton Prison, Liverpool, last December.
Mr Gray was appointed to St Margaret's 18 months ago and had also been appointed evangelism officer for the diocese of Liverpool.
The Anglican Bishop of Liverpool, Dr David Sheppard, described the death of Mr Gray as "a tremendous loss to me personally and to all of us in the diocese.
It is a terrible blow to his family, the parish and the wider church. At 32 years of age he was one of the ablest priests of his generation. Christopher Gray had very special gifts of scholarship."
A local priest in Mr Gray's home town of Gosport, Hampshire, described him as a "quite brilliant man" and a priest with great potential. Father John Capper said that Christopher Gray could have followed any career he chose. "His death is an absolute tragedy," he said. "He chose to follow the church because he had a great desire to serve his fellow man.
Mr Gray trained for the priesthood at Mirfield College in Yorkshire and had worked in a number of inner-city parishes in Liverpool before taking up his post at St Margaret's. He was known to be particularly keen to work in urban areas where he felt there was a great need for the people of the parishes to be given direction in their faith.
The Anglican Church in Liverpool said last night that it "deeply regretted" the escalation of violence in modern society.