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25 CommentsThe Archbishop of Wales issued the message below to the diocese of Bangor on 20 February 2026. I wrote about the proposal to appoint an interim bishop here and here.
Interim Bishop of Bangor: Message from the Archbishop of Wales
Dear friends,
Today, we have held interviews of an Interim Bishop of Bangor. I am very grateful for all those, from the diocese and the province, who have been involved in this discernment process.
Any process of discernment has to be open to an outcome that it is not right to proceed in the way we hoped. This is what has happened on this occasion and so we will not be proceeding with the appointment of an interim bishop.
Instead, I am going to ask the Governing Body’s Standing Committee to recommence the electoral college process.
The diocese remains in my prayers.
Archbishop Cherry
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16 CommentsThe electronic voting results from this month’s meeting of General Synod are now available online. These contain the names of voting members and how they voted.
The full text of motions can be found in the official record of Business Done.
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2 CommentsUpdated Monday 23 February
The Diocese of Lincoln published the statement below today, 20 February”
Diocesan Statement Regarding the Status of The Bishop of Lincoln
20th February, 2026The Bishop of Lincoln, The Rt Revd Stephen Conway, has been suspended from ministry while a complaint made to the National Safeguarding Team is responded to according to House of Bishops Code of Practice. This includes referral to the appropriate statutory authorities.
The Bishop of Grantham, The Rt Revd Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, will be performing the function of the Diocesan Bishop during this period.
Support is in place for those affected and there will be no further comment while the process is ongoing.
We understand that this will be a deeply unsettling time. The Diocesan Safeguarding Team is available for anyone who wishes to contact them. They can be contacted via email: safeguarding@lincoln.anglican.org or by phone: 01522 504070.
Alternatively, Safe Spaces is an independent and confidential support advocacy service. Contact their free helpline: 0300 303 1056.
And there is also support from ThirtyOneEight, a safeguarding support line. Their number is 0303 003 1111.
The BBC has subsequently reported that the bishop has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
Update Monday 23 February
24 Comments
The Prime Minister’s Office issued the following press release this morning. There is more on the Durham diocesan website.
Appointment of the Bishop of Durham:
19 February 2026
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Richard Simpson, for election as Bishop of Durham.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 19 February 2026
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Richard (Rick) Simpson, Archdeacon of Auckland in the Diocese of Durham, for election as Bishop of Durham, in succession to The Right Reverend Paul Roger Butler, following his retirement.
Background
Rick was educated at Keble College, Oxford, and trained for ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He served his title at St. Gabriel’s Heaton, in the Diocese of Newcastle, and was ordained Priest in 1994.
From 1997, Rick served as Priest-in-Charge, and then Vicar, Holy Trinity, Jesmond, and St. Barnabas and St. Jude, Sandyford, in the Diocese of Newcastle. In 2006, he was appointed IME 2 lead for the Dioceses of Durham and Newcastle, supporting curates and training incumbents, and Priest-in-Charge, St. Brandon’s, Brancepeth, in the Diocese of Durham.
In 2018, Rick took up his current role as Archdeacon of Auckland.
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This post will be updated as the meeting proceeds.
The Church of England’s General Synod is meeting this week. The timetable is here, the agenda is here and the papers are here.
Live video etc
All sessions are streamed live on YouTube and remain available to view afterwards. Links have been provided in advance.
There is an official X/Twitter account.
Order papers
Notice papers
Business Done
Official press releases
Press reports and comment etc
Church Times
Tim Wyatt The Critical Friend
The Guardian
Religion News Service
BBC News
Gavin Drake Church Abuse
Guarding The Flock Misogyny Is Real, But It Cannot Be Used to Deflect Attention From Safeguarding Failures
Colin Coward Unadulterated Love Thirsty for Hope – LLF and LGBTQIA+ diocesan pastors and chaplains and life in God’s field hospital
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51 CommentsThe House of Laity of the General Synod, and the two Convocations will meet on Monday afternoon (9 February) before the start of next week’s meeting of the Synod. Here are the papers.
House of Laity
Convocation of Canterbury
Convocation of York
The 258 Questions (and answers) for next week’s meeting of the Church of England’s General Synod were issued today. They can be found online here:
There are two sessions scheduled for Questions: on Monday afternoon (not later than 6.00 pm) and Tuesday afternoon (not later than 5.30 pm). Afternoon sessions finish at 7.00 pm, so this allocates a minimum of two and a half hours to Questions.
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The Church of England’s General Synod will meet in London from 9 to 13 February. The agenda and papers for the meeting were released today.
There are links to the papers below the fold, grouped by the day on which they are due to be debated. There are also a number of GS Misc papers and items of deemed and contingency business.
21 Comments