[1] Kavanagh was educated at the University of York and the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield.
After curacies in Boston Spa and Clifford he was Vicar of Beverley from 1991 to 1997; serving additionally as its Rural Dean from 1995 to 1997.
He was Domestic Chaplain to David Hope, Archbishop of York, from 1997 to 2005.
Kavanagh was formally licensed as Chaplain-General and Archdeacon for Prisons on 13 October 2014.
[4] The Venerable Kavanagh married Linda Munt on 13 April 2013.