Press release from Number 10
There is more detail on the Oxford diocesan website.
Suffragan Bishop of Dorchester: 24 November 2020
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Gavin Andrew Collins MA to the Suffragan See of Dorchester.
Published 24 November 2020
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Gavin Andrew Collins MA, Archdeacon of the Meon, in the diocese of Portsmouth to the Suffragan See of Dorchester, in the diocese of Oxford, in succession to the Right Reverend Colin William Fletcher OBE who resigned on 16 November 2020.
Gavin was educated in Law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and worked as a solicitor in the City of London, before training for ministry at Trinity College Bristol. He served his title at St Barnabas, Cambridge, in the diocese of Ely and was ordained Priest in 1998.
In 2002, Gavin was appointed Vicar at Christ Church, Chorleywood, in the diocese of St Albans and, from 2006, he additionally served as Rural Dean of Rickmansworth.
In 2011, Gavin took up his current role as Archdeacon of The Meon in the diocese of Portsmouth.
Gavin is married to Christina, who is a Health Visitor, and they have three young adult children.
Great appointment. An LGBTI affirming Evangelical. Possibly a first…at least openly.
Will he be lobbying for equal marriage?
I agree. Yes evangelical but in no way tribal. I am looking forward to Gavin coming to the diocese.
Quick appointment, Bishop Fletcher resigned on the 16th November 2020 and Archdeacon Collins appointed on the 24th!
He announced to the diocese in November 2019 that he would be retiring in 2020, the year of his seventieth birthday.
Gavin has much to bring to the College of Bishops and I am delighted to see his nomination. He and I were fellow contributors to the essays and stories in Journeys in Grace and Truth.
It will be interesting to see how evangelicals in Oxford diocese react to this appointment. The Oxford bishops ad clerum in 2018 was criticised by many evangelical clergy including the leaders of many of the largest churches in the diocese. This appointment is unlikely to address their concerns.
Sounds like an excellent appointment, especially in the light of LLF