Ken trained at Winchester and New College, Oxford, and was ordained an Anglican priest in 1662. In 1663, he became Rector of Little Easton, and Rector of Woodhay and Prebendary of Winchester in 1669. He published a Manual of Prayers, for the use of the scholars of Winchester College, in 1674. He was briefly chaplain to Princess Mary, and later to the British fleet. He became Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1685. He was one of several bishops imprisoned in the Tower of London for refusing to sign James II’s “Declaration of Indulgence” (hoping to restore Catholicism in England); he was tried and acquitted. Ken wrote much poetry, published posthumously in 1721.
He is also the composer of the hymn that marks the Offertory in our parish and in almost every other parish in the Episcopal Church: "Praise God, from whom all Blessings Flow".
Almighty God, you gave your servant Thomas Ken grace and courage to bear witness to the truth before rulers and kings: Give us strength also that, following his example, we may constantly defend what is right, boldly reprove what is evil, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.