Ravis took holy orders in 1582 and preached around Oxford for some time. On 17 April 1588 he was elected a proctor and in July 1596 and again in July 1597 was chosen
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. In 1591 he was admitted to the rectory of
Merstham,
Surrey, and from 27 December of the same year until May 1598 was vicar of
All Hallows, Barking. From February 1593 till 1607 he was a prebendary of Westminster, and from 1596 until 1605 an authoritarian Dean of Christ Church. As Dean he commuted the commons allowance for food into monetary form, of two
shillings a week. Some of those who resisted this innovation he expelled, others he sent before the council, and others he imprisoned. On 7 July 1598 he became vicar of
Islip, and in the following October vicar of
Wittenham Abbas,
Berkshire. He was one of the six deans who attended the
Hampton Court Conference in 1604, and later supplied notes for
William Barlow's account, the
Sum and Substance of the Conference. He was then involved in the subsequent creation of the
King James Bible, being appointed one of the Oxford committee deputed to translate part of the
New Testament. Also in that year, he was elected
prolocutor of the lower house of
Convocation. ==Episcopal career==