Venables was ordained as a deacon in 1984 and eight months later as priest. He started his ordained ministry, serving with the Anglican Church in
Paraguay,
Bolivia and
Argentina. He was headmaster of St Andrew's College,
Asunción, Paraguay, from 1978 until 1989. He was ordained to the
episcopate in 1993 and returned to South America as Assistant Bishop of Peru and Bolivia, being consecrated the first Bishop of Bolivia in 1995. Venables was elected Archbishop of South America for the first time in 2001, serving until 2010. He became a significant leader of the
Anglican realignment during his tenure. He was once again elected at the provincial synod held in
Santiago,
Chile on 7–10 November 2016 Venables is an honorary
Fellow of
Canterbury Christ Church University. He is also the Patron of the
Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas. Venables has been married to Sylvia Margaret (née Norton) since 1970 and they have one son, two daughters and nine grandchildren. ==References==