Updated
Suffragan See of Sherwood
11 March 2020
Queen approves nomination to the Suffragan See of Sherwood.
Published 11 March 2020
Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Doctor Andrew Neil Emerton BSc, BTh, DPhil, Dean of St Mellitus College, in the Diocese of London to the Suffragan See of Sherwood, in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, in succession to the Right Reverend Anthony Porter BA MA who is due to retire on 22nd March 2020.
Andy was educated at York University, and Queens College, Oxford and trained for ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He served his title at Holy Trinity Brompton in the Diocese of London and was ordained Priest in 2006.
In 2008, Andy was appointed as Assistant Dean, St Mellitus College and in 2015 Andy took up his current roles as Dean, St Mellitus College and Principal, St Paul’s Theological Centre
Update
There is more detail on the diocesan website, including the consecration date which is Ascension Day 21 May 2020.
Fantastic appointment as Bishop of Sherwood
We should be expecting the Bishops of Horsham and Lewes to be announced in the next couple of weeks too. Exciting times for the church
Looks a good appointment although +Nottingham was always likely to appoint a charismatic evangelical.
Will be interesting to see whether +Chichester keeps with the tradition of a catholic as +Horsham and an evangelical as +Lewes.
I’m not sure the the Chichester ‘tradition’ has a very long history. I do remember reading that Bishop Kemp said that he needed an evangelical at Lewes when Wallace Benn was appointed, and of course Peter Ball, hardly that, was a predecessor at Lewes. Again, three Anglo-catholics in succession at Horsham Doesn’t necessarily mean another will be appointed. More important is that at least one, if not both, should ordain women and one should be a woman. Though whether Bishop Martin would countenance a woman or whether any woman would want to come to Chichester is another matter.
Graham: what makes this appointment ‘fantastic’?
Why is it fantastic?
We are told nothing about Andrew’s achievements.
Andy appears to have had virtually no parish experience (HTB is not what I’d consider a normal parish). I wonder how the parish clergy in Nottinghamshire will interpret that?
Why not give him a chance?! He could be amazing and he has been chosen not just by a Bishop but by a pretty thorough process.
But will he take over the current Bishop of Sherwood’s crucial role as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Sport Ambassador? 🙂
He is moving to be nearer his brother!
Kensington to Mansfield will be quite some move.
Sherwood is as rough as, so the Bishop of it doesn’t live there but in one of the posher suburbs of Nottingham. Not quite Kensington, though!
Dick Darby lived in Halam or Edingley I recall and then Alan Morgan was based just off the Nottingham Road in Mansfield. So why the retreat to Nottingham? Surely better to have an episcopal presence further north than Southwell or the metropolis?
No good shepherd sleeps away from his flock
Bishops Mike, Nick, Pete now Andy. Pray, why not Christian and saintly names – Michael, Nicholas, Peter and Andrew?
Mercifully, no bishop called David chooses to be known as “DAVE”
My Diocesan is Tim. I tried to edit this to his proper Christian name (and episcopal title) on Wikipedia, but my edit was subsequently reversed to the original, so they, or someone, decided that was how the Bishop prefers to be known.
Apologies for being in ultra-pedantic mode today, but I see that the Bishop of Oxford signs himself “+Steven Oxford” rather than “+Steven Oxon.”. Father David, we are old hat. This is the modern face of the C of E (and No 10 Downing Street’s sloppy announcements!).
At least it isn’t +Steve Oxford.
Do you think that ++Justin would prefer to be called ‘Jus’ or ‘Tin’? When I’m made a bishop I’m happy for you all to call me ‘My Lord’ rather than fretting about abbreviating Dean, I wouldn’t want anyone to have to stray too far from their comfort zone.
I know a priest whose first name is “Dean.” His ecclesiastical position is a dean. So he’s know by all his friends as “Dean Dean.”
When I was first ordained the Bishop of Malmesbury was universally known by his Christian name Leofric. His surname was Bishop, and he said that being called “Bishop” was like being back at prep school. Everyone from the humblest curate was welcome to call him Leofric.
Not forgetting similar job-based legal names. So Igor Judge (now Lord Judge), when LCJ, was Lord Chief Justice Judge.
just Just maybe
I’m 61, and the only person in my life who has ever called me ‘Timothy’ is my mother – usually when I was in trouble. Everyone in my parish calls me ‘Tim’, and that’s how I’m known in the Diocese. Sorry if this offends you, but I was a teenager in the 1970s and it’s what comes naturally to my generation. I will never be a bishop, thank God, but if I was, I would definitely be Bishop Tim (or, preferably, just ‘Tim’).
P. S. I forgot “Tony” – the suffragan bishop of Sherwood who will be replaced by “Andy”
What a noble name is Anthony – the saintly founder of Eastern monasticism.
Quite some time back we had Bishop Tony, of Pontefract, now Wakefield…
Bishop Nick is commonly used for m’lord of Leeds et al ! Seldom Bishop Nicholas, but then he had a distinguished career before ordination.
More forgivable on the diocesan website, possibly, but don’t people at No 10 know how to correctly refer to The Queen’s College, Oxford? (And for pedants, like myself, promoting the retention of the apostrophe and its proper use, it’s Queens’ College, Cambridge.)
I agree heartily with the promotion of proper use of the apostrophe. I have a cousin who sprinkles them too liberally, including (God help us): The Bahama’s.
An interesting appointment, but one that confirms preferment is only given to ‘those in a like image’.
Life is becoming more dangerous, and the ‘bunch’ of Bishops in the Church of England more common. I am old hat, but why cannot so called Christian leaders use their full proper CHRISTAN name. We have to put up with a curate who needs must be called Andy !.
Fr John Emlyn
Let’s face it – Archbishop Randall Davidson was never known as Randy – they wouldn’t have dared to!
what a great thought !
Just watched the “Moondust” episode of The Crown including the setting up of St. George’s House, Windsor by Robin Woods. All the dispirited clergy wore full round clerical dog collars. I wonder when the slip in collar took over as seen worn by the next Bishop of Sherwood?
It’s perhaps one of the rare occasions Andy has worn a collar since he was ordained. Nicky at HTB seems to eschew clerical dress these days. Nicky seems to have been overlooked in the preferment derby – something he said?
Can we please get back to the ‘Thinking’ bit of Anglicans here? This is narkey and tedious. Thanks – Dave.
David, well said. We are facing a pandemic, huge safeguarding problems, a major challenge with regard to a leading Oxford college, and people are freaking out about Bishops being called by a nickname. Get real.
I actually prefer bishops to be informal and call themselves Andy or Tim – or Jackie for that matter – but some people here a) prefer bishops to express more gravitas in the name they use and/or b) some people believe that the name used in baptism should be used. While I personally disagree, don’t think those legitimate views should be dismissed as “narkey”.
I don’t think it’s the view itself that’s being dismissed as ‘narkey’ – it’s the fact that in a time of pandemic etc., it seems such a tiny little thing to get into a righteous fit about. I’m sure Jesus doesn’t lose any sleep over whether I prefer to be called ‘Tim’ or ‘Timothy’.
Laughing at evangelicals who seem to prefer names like Nicky, Ricky and Mickey is not an alternative to taking the pandemic seriously. Why should Thinking Anglicans be so po-faced? Having a sense of humour is essential in these worrying times.
Laughing at people does not seem like a very Christian practice. Laughing with them is good. There’s nothing po-faced, though, about not being rude.
FrDavidH Actually in my corner of the church ministers called Andy, Nick, Tony and Steve are as likely to have the title ‘Father’ in front … with or without a sense of humour. Whether they find it any funnier to be told they make the CofE ‘common’ – well I will leave you to try that joke out on them.
Who said these funny abbreviated names make the CofE “common”? Not me.
Look back up this thread FrDavidH … Yes, David Exham – laughing ‘with’ is fun – laughing ‘at’ is derogatory behaviour. But Susannah as always calls us back to grace. I rejoice in Andy, called by name. I thank him for his ‘yes’ to God and pray for him and those he will serve as Bishop.
No, Kate, they are not legitimate views, at least not if someone seeks to impose them on others or even criticises people whose choice is not what you think it should be. Common courtesy, let alone Christian love, requires that we address people by the name that they prefer. Our preference doesn’t come into it. To seek to ‘edit’ a Bishop’s Wikipedia page seems to be just bad manners.
“narkey” – “a righteous fit” – “freaking out”
Me thinks you doth protest too much with your OTT comments!
At a time of international crisis a little light relief is surely what the doctor ordered – so, “Keep Calm and Carry On”
It has been said that the next Bishop of Sherwood makes a rare appearance in a clerical collar for his photo opportunity, I wonder if we shall be seeing him in cope and mitre or will he be sticking with convocation robes – as I suspect are always worn by the Bishops of Islington, Maidstone and Wallace Benn?
Let’s try and focus on the Suffragan See of Sherwood and the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. That’s what this post is all about. The churches and people in the diocese, and their new suffragan bishop. May God bless their communities and their ministries. Not least, Nicky Skipworth’s inclusive ministry at AllSaints, Haworth and Bircotes, and James Pacey and the inclusive church at St John’s, Carrington. Also Father Wayne and Revd Tracey at St John the Baptist, Beeston – inclusive and welcoming; Father James Curry at the very inclusive church of St Mark’s, Mansfield; and Sue Caddy’s ministry in the… Read more »