Updated
It has been announced that Robert Wickham and Ric Thorpe will become the suffragan bishops of Edmonton and Islington respectively in the diocese of London.
There are separate press releases from Number 10.
Suffragan Bishop of Edmonton: Robert Wickham
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
First published: 9 July 2015
The Queen has approved the nomination of Robert Wickham to the Suffragan See of Edmonton in the diocese of London.
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Robert Wickham MA, Rector of St John-at-Hackney in the diocese of London, to the Suffragan See of Edmonton in the diocese of London in succession to the Right Reverend Peter Wheatley MA following his resignation on 31 December 2014.
Notes for editors
Mr Wickham was educated at Grey College, Durham and King’s College, London and trained for the ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He served his title at the Shrine Parish of St Mary Willesden in the diocese of London and was ordained priest in 1999. He went on to serve in what was to become the Parish of Old St Pancras in 2001. He took up his current role as Rector of St John-at-Hackney in 2007 and additionally became Area Dean of Hackney in 2014.
Mr Wickham is married to Helen, a primary school teacher, and they have three young children, Tom, Susannah and Harry. His interests include walking, family days out and following the fortunes of Plymouth Argyle football club.
Suffragan Bishop of Islington: Reverend Ric Thorpe
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
First published: 9 July 2015
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Ric Thorpe to the Suffragan See of Islington in the diocese of London.
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Ric Thorpe BSC, Rector of St Paul’s Shadwell with Ratcliffe St James in the diocese of London, to the Suffragan See of Islington in the diocese of London which has been in abeyance since 1923.
Notes to editors
Mr Thorpe was educated at Birmingham University and trained for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall. He served his title at Holy Trinity Brompton with St Paul, Onslow Square in the diocese of London and was ordained priest in 1997. He went on to serve as Priest in Charge of St Paul’s Shadwell in 2005 before becoming Rector of the same parish in 2010. He served as Priest in Charge of All Hallows, Bromley by Bow between 2010 and 2014.
Since 2000, Ric has been actively involved in supporting and enabling church planting in the Church of England. He took a team of 100 to St Paul’s Shadwell in 2005 and then went on to send planting teams to 4 other Anglican churches in Tower Hamlets to revitalise their parishes. In 2012, Ric was appointed as the Bishop of London’s Adviser for Church Planting and has been invited to support church plants in a number of other dioceses. He is also Tutor in Church Planting at St Mellitus College.
Ric is married to Louie, and they have three teenage children, Zoe, Barny and Toby, along with a springer spaniel called Tasha. Ric’s interests include sailing, rowing, music, eating chocolate, and he has competed in the London Marathon and London Triathlon.
The London diocesan website has Two new bishops and new archdeacon for London announced; it includes this information on consecration dates.
The Archbishop of Canterbury will consecrate Rob Wickham as the new Bishop of Edmonton on 23 September in Canterbury, alongside the Bishops of Kensington and Maidstone. The Archbishop will consecrate Ric Thorpe as the new Bishop of Islington in St Paul’s Cathedral on 29 September.
Update
The Bishop of London has issued this ad clerum: New bishops of Edmonton, Islington and new Archdeacon of Hampstead.
Could +Pete clarify why a new Bishop of Edmonton (who will ordain women) will be ordained at Canterbury with +Maidstone who won’t ordain women? Does that mean that no women bishops will lay on hands?
What does Bishop Richard mean by “will work within the London Plan while rejoicing in the new opportunities which the ordination of women to priesthood and episcopate has opened up”?
L.: I would guess that there will therefore be a point when certain bishops start “exercising gracious restraint” and a point when they stop. Perhaps a starting pistol will be fired? A gong perhaps?
I assume Richard means that Fulham will provide AEO to priests-who-are-women rejecters in Edmonton area; I could be wrong, but was not Wheatley’s non-women-ordaining always an exception to THE LONDON PLAN(c) rather than part of it?
Nobody wants Maidstone to be consecrated on his own. That would send out all the wrong signals. There’s also a log-jam of consecrands in waiting. So we have to get them all in. 3 in St Paul’s would have been ideal for us. But we’ll cope.
Yes Edmonton was named in the London Plan. I now have to do a rewrite for the new situation. That situation is that Edmonton will now be like the rest of London. And will get on with the missional task.
“But we’ll cope.”
Outstanding pun, Pete.
I wish that one of the new London Area Bishops had been a woman.Lucy Winkett would have been splendid.
So it’s not Nicky for Islington but Ricky. Like the ABC he was nurtured in the womb of HTB. Now, how can Bishop Broadbent continue to deny that so called “Friends of Justin” are not being continually selected for higher office? Yet again another Evangelical being preferred adding considerable weight to the increasingly lop-sided nature of the National Church. I remember the Church of England when it was the Church of England.
Fr Rob is a energetic, enthusiastic, passionate, prayerful and fine priest; who will work towards enabling the growth of the Edmonton Area, building up on the good and fruitful works of +Peter Wheatley as well as bringing about the necessary changes needed but also endeavour to continue to create a place/environment where everyone can flourish within the Area’s vast diversity; which was a huge testament to what Bishop Peter did in his 16 years as Bishop of Edmonton.
No surprise by Ric Thorpe’s appointment and John Hawkins is a good appointment too
What a pity all 4 couldn’t be consecrated together pref in St Paul’s. Then they could sing the wonderful mass by Francisco Lopez Capillas composed for the consecration of 4 bishops in Mexico City in 1656..4 choirs singing 4 distinct masses in perfect harmony! Has it ever been performed since? I alerted Nick Mercer to it a few years ago in the hope there might be a chance!
Jean: It was probably unlikely that the Diocese of London would have had a female appointment this time round
“Yet again another Evangelical being preferred adding considerable weight to the increasingly lop-sided nature of the National Church.” With the clear church planting and pioneer ministry brief, it was hardly surprising that the HTB stable produced the successful candidate for Islington. Ric Thorpe was the standout candidate, albeit from a small field. As to the more general accusation of Father David, his labels are rather unhelpful. The Church needs missional bishops who are not afraid to embrace the ‘spiritual and numerical growth’ agenda. Whether they are of the Cottrell (Chelmsford) variety or the Watson (Guildford) variety matters not. When people… Read more »
How ludicrous that Bishop Richard felt that an appointment of a Traditionalist couldn’t be made to Edmonton or within the Diocese even but I welcome Fr Wickham’s appointment and offer him my support. Fr Rob Wickham will not be Bishop of Edmonton for long, he’ll be promoted to a Diocesan sooner rather than later… So hopefully then the next Bishop of London opens his eyes and appointments a Traditionalist to Edmonton again. Let’s hope that the next Bishop of London is Martin Warner and Philip North as the next Bishop of Chichester. Can +Pete clarify what he meant by “Edmonton… Read more »
One of the ways that the Church of England (and maybe other Anglican churches too) could become more like the Church of Jesus Christ would be to stop using terms like ‘preferred’ and ‘higher office’.
“Churchmanship actually plays a far smaller part in the process than is supposed.” Aye, there’s the rub! However, that is not at all surprising since the Catholic wing of the Church has been severely clipped by recent developments within the Ecclesia Anglicanum. I have just finished reading “All Gas and Gaiters – The Lost Episodes”. In the script of the episode entitled “The Bishop Gives a Shove” the fictional P. M’s Appointments Secretary in Ted’s Heath’s Administration (Mr. Dobson) places great emphasis on political balance between Conservative and Socialist bishops. Bishop Cuthbert Hever, for example, was offered the newly created… Read more »
GW: “Edmonton will now be like the rest of London. And will get on with the missional task”
Precisely what it says. The London Plan works in the other Episcopal Areas to keep traditionalists on board. Edmonton will now be the same, but it will no longer be a “protected” Area. And there’s plenty of mission going on – though there are some examples of parishes that are not thriving. Edmonton will just become mainstream for male and female clergy living and ministering under the 5 Principles.
At risk of singing off topic, can I join Perry’s Lopez Capillas Appreciation Society, please? Wonderful composer, almost unknown in Europe as far as I can see
Mmm…Anthony Archers comments intrigue. Sam Wells too liberal for some on the CNC perhaps?
Can I echo the request to Anthony for actual evidence. And if he has inside information please name source and give full details.
Tim: the Church of England is (part of) the Church of Jesus Christ. It just doesn’t always feel like that.
Pete: what is your evidence for saying that nobody wants Maidstone to be consecrated on his own? Interesting definition of “nobody”. Would you wish to “get rid of” (to quote from yr recent church times contribution) any who do?
It is surely crucial that Maidstone is a bishop who is part of the whole College. It would be mad to have a consecration of someone whom some see as sectarian apart from other bishops. I hope you wouldn’t wish him to be isolated. But I fear that some might. That is not, however, where we are going.
“Would Anthony Archer care to expand and elaborate upon this considerable accusation by adding flesh to the bones of his highly significant asseveration?” The failed Oxford CNC has been the subject of a Question at General Synod tonight, with members calling for a review. ++Ebor answered as follows: “The nomination of a Diocesan Bishop is an electoral process rather than an appointment process of an employee and the process of discernment involves much more extensive consultation. It would be wrong to comment on a particular CNC but the general point is that with the CNC, as with other selection and… Read more »
Graham: if you want Martin Warner to go to London and Philip North to Chichester, whom are you suggesting as the next Bishop of Burnley?
Father David – I would prefer terms that are consistent with the spirit of Mark 10:41-45. I’m sure you don’t need me to spell that out.
Thank you Anthony for your considered and considerable response to my question. I am amazed that you identify no less than six dioceses as experiiencing “troubled” CNCs, that is quite staggering. Your list comprises the following dioceses Canterbury Southwark Hereford Exeter St. Ed’s & Ips Oxford I am a great believe in the dictum “If it ain’t broke don’t mend it” but obviously with half a dozen dioceses experiencing “troubled” CNCs the current system is seriously in need of repair if not total replacement by a new and better way of selecting those candidates to be preferred for high office… Read more »
@Perry Butler/Anthony Archer – Sam Wells too liberal. Come on, are we having a laugh here? Yes, of course he is a creative, intelligent and sensitive theologian; but he’s hardly James Alison. How many liberal Hauerwas devotees do you know?
Good Lord, preserve us from the future appointments Graham Williams advocates. I have previously expressed in these pages my view that no further non-ordaining diocesans should be appointed, and that future provision for dissenters should be made only via the PEVs (enhanced in number if necessary). Others have gone further, and advocated that (apart from the PEVs) no more non-ordaining suffragans should be appointed either. Why do we take this view? Because all diocesans, and suffragans holding devolved responsibility under area schemes, will have many women priests under their authority, and it is no longer acceptable, given the position we… Read more »
Anthony–many thanks for your most perceptive and helpful post. I didn’t imagine you were privy to confidential information or that you would divulge it. Contrast the current news item on the Reform page http://reform.org.uk/news/src/archive/06-2015 which includes a quote from Rev Mark Burkill that “… There is now a crisis of leadership in Oxford Diocese, shown in the fact that the Diocese was unable to appoint a Diocesan Bishop who can work with [the Bishop of] Buckingham…” The implication being that Mr Burkill has inside knowledge of the process which can only have come from a leak from the committee.
Malcolm: The CofE doesn’t need uncharitable individuals like yourself inside it but under the banner of Mutual Flourishing, we’ll agree to disagree.
The CofE will have future appointments of individuals who are non-ordainers (apart from PEV’S), you’d be deluding yourself to believe that. The CofE made this commitment and it will happen
Will the Bishops of Gloucester and Crediton lay on hands at the consecration of the Bishop of Maidstone?
Sorry to hear, Graham, that you consider me so uncharitable that the CofE would be better off without me. Ouch! But where is your charity to the women priests who are required to swear obedience to a bishop who does not believe their orders to be valid? It’s simply too much to ask.
Time will tell as to the direction future episcopal appointments will take, but I don’t believe the CofE has made any commitment to continue consecrating non-ordaining diocesans.
Fr Robin Ward: I don’t believe that the Bishops of Gloucester, Hull, Crediton, Stockport and Taunton will lay hands of the Bishops of Maidstone, Kensington and Edmonton.
Unless they do gracious restraint for Maidstone and not the rest.
Malcolm: Of course I sympathies with female clergy who may feel as if they are out-casts to such a Bishop but it’s the same as swearing canonical obedience to a Bishop who believes that homosexuality is wrong (And we know there are Bishops like that); you just have to do it. We live within diversity and that’s the price that we’ve got to pay for being part of the CofE. Where the next traditionalist appointment will be, I don’t know but it will happen eventually. Anyone who thinks otherwise will be deluding themselves, if we’re gonna to create an open… Read more »
“The CofE will have future appointments of individuals who are non-ordainers (apart from PEV’S), you’d be deluding yourself to believe that.” I hesitate to enter the private debate between Graham Williams and Malcolm Dixon on this, but feel it it an important one. The Five Guiding Principles are now the touchstone for all this. We are warned that we must read them as one single package. However, they do contains five different strands. The first two deal with the new settled mind of the church. The third concerns ecumenical and Anglican Communion aspects. The last two importantly deal with pastoral… Read more »
Anthony: You presume that Bishop Richard’s successor will ordain women, nothing concrete or set in stone until his successor is appointed. Of course there are PEVs and +Fulham but I don’t see any logical reason why non-ordainers cannot be appointed to Diocesan/Suffragan sees in future apart from the usual “How can women expect to swear canonical obedience to someone who doesn’t recognise their ministry” argument. That is what being part of the CofE is about and that is what the banner of Mutual Flourishing is about. If you’re point is the official stance of the CofE it would be good… Read more »
Chuchu,
why does flourishing require Diocesan and Suffragan bishops?
Thank you Anthony, for your support. It was never (as far as I was concerned at least) a private debate between Graham and me (this is after all a public forum) and I was hoping for some support after a rather more ad hominem attack on me than is normally permitted by the moderators. I knew your views on this important matter from your contributions to earlier threads, but it is good to see your confident assertions repeated. I hope that you do decide to stand for GS and that you are elected, because GS needs people with your experience… Read more »
I don’t know, Erica. Why does the flourishing of women and LGBT members require women and gay priests and Diocesan bishops? If one group has the right to demand bishops to prove they are equal members of the church, then all other groups do to, right? If not, they should have just sent out the letter to conservative priests like the Church of Sweden did, something along the lines of: “The Church has decided to go another way. You have no say from now on. We won’t fire you, but you will not be allowed to hold office or high… Read more »
Chris,
traditionalists have traditional priests, deacons and bishops. They are not left floundering in the CoE unable to worship appropriately. That’s what the provisions were rightly about.
But the CoE itself has now fully accepted women priests and bishops, so it should no longer go without saying that women priests (and women in the pews, come to that) should have to tolerate Diocesan and Suffragan bishops who do not recognise women priests and bishops.
What is it that Suffragans and Diocesans add for traditional people that PEVs don’t?
In what respect do they impair flourishing?
The settlement we have reached doesn’t necessitate the ruling out of traditionalist catholics or headship evangelicals. Why should it? It’s about whether they fit the person specification and the needs of the post. Provided that they are prepared to engage with the whole Church and are orthodox, there’s nothing to prevent any person being appointed. As we’ve said on other threads…
Thank you, Bishop Pete, for your open and honest contributions to this thread and many others on this site. I hesitate to appear to argue with any bishop, but I think the answer to your question ‘Why should it? is perhaps to be found in the posts from Anthony Archer and myself. You mention the need for any bishop to engage with the whole church. Quite so, but I don’t understand how a bishop can fully engage with a woman priest under his authority or with a woman bishop in the same college, and in the same way that he… Read more »
Provided a Traditionalist priest shows equal love to all loyal Anglicans , equally seeks the growth and flourishing of all male and female clergy and their parishes and is willing to equally support all loyal Anglicans who wish to explore a vocation to ordained ministry then there is no reason whatsoever why such a Traditionalist priest should be barred from holding a mainstream Suffragan or Area See. Bishop Pete is correct in asserting that this is precisely what the CofE provided for in the House of Bishops Declaration.
Malcolm: I’m sure if +Martin Chichester, +Philip Burnley and +Tony Wakefield can do it then it mustn’t be that difficult. I believe it’s about having a Matured Attitude about the issue, while staying true to your own integrity. For those who may doubt the validity of the order conferred on women; you recognise that the CofE has now deemed that women can be Bishops and as part of your continued membership in the CofE, while not being able to work with them sacramentally – You seek to find common ground in which you can work together for the sake of… Read more »
This is an argument that we’ve had in these pages before, Chuchu. I don’t dispute that the bishops you mention manage the conflicted situation they are in with the greatest possible care and consideration. But, nevertheless, I doubt that you would find a single woman priest in any of their episcopal areas who would not prefer that their bishop was someone who believed her orders to be unquestionably valid. And the fact that these (and other) bishops have managed the conflicted situation well is not an argument for perpetuating the conflicted situation into future appointments. I am not expecting a… Read more »
It’s the women who have managed the conflict well, not the bishops.
And I am really bemused by how important it is for traditionalists to have bishops who believe like they do, but who at the same time think it’s quite irrelevant to women priests and women in the congregations if the same bishops actively don’t recognise women’s priestly ministry.
As yourselves seriously and honestly if you would be happy if the situation was the other way round.
It is not about believing like they do but making sure that all of God’s people are represented and enabled to flourish on all levels within the Church… The CofE made this argument when it was pushing for the Ordination of women to the Episcopate for some many years; you can’t state you wish for a certain part of the Church to be represented within the Church hierarchy but then state that another part can’t… Thankfully that’s not how we do Church and thankfully that is not how our Lord Jesus Christ operated in his ministry. Of course I can… Read more »
Chuchu,
but you still haven’t explained why flourishing requires bishops that are also responsible for other priests and parishes.
and what news of the rewrite of the NT to omit reference to trinity??
The above makes for interesting reading, but I am wondering whether it can also be a distraction. The heart of the matter is that the congregations in our churches are dwindling and there is the above introspective communication from church leaders about appointments of Bishops. A decision has been made and we must all accept it otherwise we also contribute to eroding the authority of the church. Then you wonder why people do not come to church.
All four should have been presented on the same day.