Packer became a deacon in 1970 and was Curate of
St Helier, in
Southwark, until 1973. Ordained as priest in 1971, he worked in
Abingdon in
Berkshire (and then
Oxfordshire) from 1973 to 1977. Between 1973 and 1975, he was Tutor at Ripon Hall, and between 1975 and 1977 at
Ripon College Cuddesdon. In the following, Packer was Vicar of
Wath-upon-Dearne with
Adwick-upon-Dearne until 1986, and from 1986 to 1991 team rector at
Sheffield Manor. He was twice
Rural Dean, firstly of Wath from 1983 to 1986, and secondly of
Attercliffe in 1990 and 1991. Until 1996, he was
Archdeacon of West Cumberland, having been also priest-in-charge in
Bridekirk in 1995 and 1996.
Episcopal ministry Packer was
consecrated a bishop (alongside
Peter Forster,
Bishop of Chester) during a service at
York Minster, by
David Hope,
Archbishop of York, on 13 November 1996. He was suffragan
Bishop of Warrington until 2000, when he was appointed Bishop of Ripon and Leeds – he was the first (and as it turned out, only) bishop with that title, which had been changed from "Bishop of Ripon" only upon his predecessor's resignation. He was installed at
Ripon Cathedral on 16 July 2000. In 2006, he was called to the
House of Lords as a
Lord Spiritual. He was the Bishops' Parliamentary Spokesperson for immigration & asylum; urban affairs; and welfare reform. Packer used his maiden speech in the House of Lords on 14 December 2006 to criticise the government's policy on
asylum seekers, claiming that under the current policy refugees are being "made destitute, terrorised and imprisoned". His interest in the asylum issue materialised again in February 2007 when he appealed to the
Home Office to halt the deportation of a woman, Aseng Nasoba, and her six children back to the
Democratic Republic of Congo, saying that he feared for the family's safety if they were returned to their home country. In 2012 he was instrumental in defeating the coalition government's plan to put a cap on benefits given to families, when his amendment to exclude child benefit from the plan was passed in the
House of Lords. He retired as Bishop of Ripon and Leeds on 31 January 2014. ==Personal life==