Here is the announcement from Downing Street:
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Donald Spargo Allister MA, Archdeacon of Chester, for election as Bishop of Peterborough in succession to the late Right Reverend Ian Patrick Martyn Cundy, MA.
Notes for Editors
Donald Allister (aged 57) was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He trained for the ministry at Trinity College, Bristol. He served his curacy in the Diocese of Chester at Hyde St George, Chester from 1976 to 1979, and at Sevenoaks St Nicholas, in the diocese of Rochester from 1979 to 1983. From 1983 to 1989 he was Vicar at Birkenhead Christ Church, in the diocese of Chester. From 1989 to 2002 he was Rector at Cheadle in the Diocese of Chester, and from 1999 to 2002 he was Rural Dean of Cheadle. Since 2002 he has been Archdeacon of Chester. Sidabrinės apyrankės internetu https://www.silvera.lt/apyrankes
He is married to Janice and they have three grown-up children and one grandchild. His interests include hill walking, science fiction and medical ethics.
The much longer press release from the diocese is here. Do read it all.
The Church of England website has this press release.
Here is the new bishop’s Press Conference Statement.
Nice bloke. Changed his mind on the ordination of women and is big enough to say so.
“On family and ethical issues, he remains a strong believer in the importance of marriage. “It’s the primary building block for society that God has given us,””
Yes, I agree, a building block for ALL of us.
In the next paragraph he is quoted about being “a generous orthodox”. Nice sounding, let’s hope something comes of that.
“I love the Church of England. And while I’m well aware of its imperfections too – including my own! – I do believe it’s been a source of great blessing to this nation and the wider world. I pray that it will continue to be so. I’ve served as an ordained minister for over 33 years now. Every day has been a privilege. Many of those days have been joyful, and throughout that time I’ve known God’s presence and his love.” – Bishop-elect, Donald Allister – Not a bad statement for one destined for a role as a bishop. At… Read more »
Sounds like an exemplary fellow.
At a conference a few years ago, I heard Donald Allister say that where the Church had gone wrong was when it admitted women as Readers – has he changed his mind on this?
“Sounds like an exemplary fellow.”
Indeed. And one whose synodical voting record shows he supports provision in law for opponents of WO! Exemplary!
He certainly has expressed some odd opinions in the past, for example: http://baptism.org.uk/unmarried.htm Daily Telegraph 26 April 2000 Marry or I can’t baptise your child, says rector A RECTOR has warned unmarried couples that he may refuse to baptise their children because they are “living in sin”. or this: Admitting children to Holy Communion http://www.reform.org.uk/pages/bb/children.php or this: Vicar with attitude http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,534604,00.html He condemns sex before marriage and the baptism of children born out of wedlock. But there’s more – this week he refused to let a couple play Jerusalem at their wedding. The Reverend Donald Allister tells Emma Brockes why,… Read more »
Does the new bishop believe that all the ministers who have been divorced and ‘re-married’ are living in sin too?
If not why not ?
How many ordinands in this position will he refuse to ordain ?How many vicars wanting to move into the diocese will he turn away ?
His priorities, as reported here, strike me, as odd…….
All very entertaining. He sounds a nutter and an embarrassment – not, of course, the slightest disqualifications for episcopal leadership.
I’m sure he is deserving of a bishopric and will make a good bishop, but i think it would be good if there wasnt an apostolic succession of the same churchmanship.Southwell seems to have had a succession of evangelical bishops, now an evangelical succeeds another in Peterborough, not, i would have thought an esp evangelical diocese.The assumption seems to be an evangelical will probably go to Rochester and i suppose Portsmouth will get a liberal catholic…and probably Newcastle when that becomes vacant.Will the next Chichester be a traditionalist anglo-catholic …Guildford and Chelmsford seem to vary,but given our current rather frgmented… Read more »
He published a paper in 1993 “Facing the Challenge of Liberalism” which contains the following :
“These liberals are the ones who talk about ‘gay lib’ for clergy, homosexual ‘marriages’ in church, calling God ‘mother’, removing the distinctions between men and women in church, society and home,”
“Liberalism is one of Satan’s greatest weapons against the church.”
The full text can be found at :
http://www.churchsociety.org/churchman/documents/Cman_107_2_Allister.pdf
Sixteen years is a very long time so he may well have changed his opinion on matters LGBT as well as on the OOW. I hope he has.
john wrote: ‘He sounds a nutter and an embarrassment – not, of course, the slightest disqualifications for episcopal leadership.’
I thought they were requirements rather than impediments.
Oops, I must withdraw my initial good impression. If he still holds to the extremist positions expressed 16 years ago he will make the Church look ridiculous. The York Minster fire as Divine Judgment? Every historical and geographical item of information in Scripture inerrant? I recommend him to read Karl Barth, whom he rightly characterizes as a liberal, more deeply, to find serenity.
I suppose, as an observation from afar (N.Z.), all one can hope is that the new Bishop will be a good pastor to all his people – clergy and laity, male and female, straight and gay.
“By their fruits you shall know them!”
Yes he may have over 16 years or he may just repeat the same year over again and again. And what on earth can he mean by ‘God’s unchanging truth’ ? It’s news to me we all believe on ‘unchanging’ ‘truth’ in the C of E or indeed any denomination. – but maye I’m just one of those dangerous liberals…. The full text can be found at : http://www.churchsociety.org/churchman/documents/Cman_107_2_Allister.pdf Sixteen years is a very long time so he may well have changed his opinion on matters LGBT as well as on the OOW. I hope he has. Posted by: Laurence… Read more »
In the interests of fair play, I should note belatedly that the diocesan press release says, in relation to the links I made above to press reports,
“Contrary to some inaccurate decade-old news reports still in circulation, he has never refused to baptise children of co-habiting couples, never refused communion to unconfirmed children if the parish church has followed the proper guidelines for their preparation, and never banned the hymn Jerusalem from weddings!”
As a member of the diocese of Peterborough I am hoping that Archdeacon Allister has indeed changed his opinions over the last decade or so. Of course I wish him every success in his new role and hope that he will be a good leader to us in the diocese but I am sorry that Bishop Frank White ( who has stood in since Bishop Ian died) has not been offered the post.