The Bishop of Aston, the Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst, is to become the new Principal of the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. Aston is a suffragan see in the Diocese of Birmingham.
Details are on the websites of the Diocese of Birmingham and the Queen’s Foundation.
The Diocesan goes from principal of a theological college to bishop, while his suffragan goes in the opposite direction.
The former has occurred frequently. Examples include Donald Coggan (London College of Divinity to Bradford), Robert Runcie (Cuddesdon to St Albans) and William Greer (Westcott House to Manchester). A fairly recent example of the latter is Bishop Mark Sowerby, who went from the suffragan bishopric of Horsham to CoR Mirfield as Principal.
Also Humphrey Southern from Repton to Ripon College Cuddesdon.
And, of course, with the former, George Carey (Trinity Bristol – Bath and Wells – Canterbury)
Stephen Andrews went from being Bishop of Algoma to principal of Wycliffe College in Toronto, where he still serves.
And of course where he succeeded George Sumner, who in turn had vacated the principalship upon his election in Dallas!
In Canada we have also had bishops who resigned and went back into parish ministry for a time before their retirement. Three that I’m aware of are: Gary Woolsey, bishop of Athabasca, who resigned at 49 in 1991 and became rector of St. Peter’s in CalgaryRoland Wood, bishop of Saskatoon, who resigned at 60 in 1993 and became the dean of the cathedral in Peace River (diocese of Athabasca), Jenny Andison, suffragan bishop of York-Credit Valley in the Diocese of Toronto, who resigned at 50 in 2021 and became rector of St. Paul’s Bloor Street in the diocese of Toronto… Read more »
Sorry all, this was formatted in the message box with bullet points, but obviously that formatting did not work!
Kenneth Carey, who confirmed me, went from Westcott House to the See of Edinburgh.
Thomas Hannay CR went from being Principal of CoR to Bishop of Argyll and the Isles. He was ultimately Primus of the Episcopal Church in Scotland as it was then known.
There is something here beyond preferment. There is a growing trend of suffragans/senior church people who realise they are at the top of their tree and dont/cant stay in the diocesan structure and move into the third sector. So I add to the list, +Rob Wickham at the CUF, Crispin Pailing’s (not episcopal but a fine parish priest) exit in Liverpool, I could list Archdeacons who have slipped off the ecclesial mortal coil – Peter Rouch at Church Army and now Seafarers. There is a question to be asked about against all the talk about lack of senior talent –… Read more »
You got me thinking with this. Mix of responses. I am not a fan of the word preferment to speak of vocation. At least some of those moving ‘sideways’ will be using their gifts in the most appropriate contexts. Non-church jobs are not second best – but I am sure you do not mean to imply this? Finally, like you, I want people’s gifts and calling honoured in the church but we are a shrinking organisation. We can’t afford what we most wish to do – or to employ even the most qualified. That immediately means that not all those… Read more »
And let’s recognise that this is an important and venerable part of C of E tradition. A huge figure like Percy Dearmer did spend some time as a parish priest at the less than typical St Mary’s Primrose Hill, but the vast majority of his ministry as a priest was outside the formal boundaries of the Church of England and frequently- as in his Sunday gatherings – quite at odds with the party line. In a different but complementary way, Fr Herbert Kelly SSM – an extraordinarily original and creative character – was always in a contested relationship with the… Read more »
I agree with these comments – and thank you. I was just musing on a more diverse leadership progression which is not a bad thing – or a new thing, but a bit more prevalent now. Personally, as someone who was in parish ministry and is now working in the charity sector, I am sometimes asked “do you not miss being in ministry” – to which I reply ” I have never felt more in ministry and fulfilling my vocation”. I think much of this is also to do with how those in Senior Leadership roles are treated and affirmed… Read more »
In Peter Rouch’s case, it is no secret that he was effectively forced out of his role by the then Bishop of Winchester, Tim Dakin. This is because he did the unforgiveable thing of standing up to +Tim and taking different views from him.
Is that speculation or is there evidence?
I’m surprised that Queen’s is still going given the decline in vocations. I hope that there’ll be enough for Bishop Anne to keep busy with.
“Queen’s currently has 259 students on full-time, part-time, residential, non-residential and on-line courses”
It trains clergy for several churches from what I can understand. It’s also the only C of E theological college in the west midlands (unless you count Oxford as west Midlands). Probably better placed to survive than some other colleges with very low numbers.