Dr Croft, who is 47, is currently Warden of Cranmer Hall, Durham. The post of Archbishops' Missioner has been created following the conclusion of the successful Springboard project launched by Dr George Carey in 1992.

The main focus of Dr Croft's work will be to be the team leader of the successor project Fresh Expressions. This is intended to build on the previous work and to help churches and parishes develop for a changing future. The project, which will work across the church from its base in Oxford, is to be launched formally later in the year.

Dr Williams said that the work of mission constantly challenged the church to be innovative in its thinking

"As we celebrate Pentecost, we are reminded that the Church's life begins in a moment of outreach, speaking the language of strangers. The Archbishop of York and I are thrilled that Dr Croft is taking up this new challenge. We hope that Fresh Expressions will help churches and congregations explore the excitement of the Spirit's work in reaching out and helping us learn how to speak of the Good News in new languages."

Dr Croft said that mission is a central part of the churches' calling in every generation:

"God calls the church in every time and place to demonstrate love and to share good news. In the present time the church in England needs both a proper confidence and a proper humility in that task combined with a renewed vision of what the church itself is called to be. I am delighted to be invited to take up this new role."

Biography of Steven Croft:

Steven Croft was born in West Yorkshire in 1957; he studied at Heath School in Halifax and attended Worcester College, Oxford studying classics and Theology. He studied subsequently in Durham and gained a PhD in 1984 with a thesis entitled The identity of the Individual in the Psalms.

He was ordained deacon in 1983 and priest in 1984 and served a curacy at St Andrew, Enfield. On moving to Halifax to serve as Vicar of Ovenden, he found himself serving also as a Mission Consultant in the diocese of Wakefield. He was also briefly priest-in-charge of the neighbouring parish of St. Augustine.

In 1996 he became Warden of Cranmer Hall, St John's College, Durham, a theological college within the larger St John's College, where his responsibilities include the training of 65 ordinands preparing for the ministry in the Church of England.

His published works include Ministry in Three Dimensions: ordination and leadership in the local church, DLT, (1999) Travelling Well: A companion guide to the Christian Faith (with Stephen Cottrell) NS/CHP (2000) and Transforming Communities: Re-Imagining the Church for the 21st Century DLT (2002). He is one of the authors of Emmaus: the way of faith (CHP, 1996 and following) which is widely used in Great Britain and in Europe.

He is married to Ann, a nursery nurse, who has written resource materials on caring for children published by CPAS. They have four children aged between 14 and 20.