from Anglican Futures
On the 23rd September 2015, the Rt Revd Rod Thomas was consecrated as the Bishop of Maidstone. Unusually, his consecration was not at the whim of a single diocesan bishop or the Crown Nominations Commission, but instead it was a requirement of the 2014 House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests. This declaration represented the ‘settlement’ that enabled women bishops to be introduced into the Church of England, but it also said:
“The House also accepts that the presence in the College of Bishops of at least one bishop who takes the Conservative Evangelical view on headship is important for sustaining the necessary climate of trust.” (GS Misc 1077 Paragraph 30).
Bishop Rod was consecrated to fulfil this promise. Of course, the ‘declaration’ also set out more widely how the bishops intended to ensure that the ‘Five Guiding Principles’ enabled the ‘mutual flourishing’ of those in favour of admitting women to the episcopate and those who in conscience could not accept their ministry.
The Rt Revd Rod Thomas retired in 2022. He was succeeded by the Rt Revd Rob Munro, although, due to further episcopal reorganisation, Bishop Rob was made the Bishop of Ebbsfleet rather than Maidstone.
This week, exactly ten years on from that first consecration, the Independent Reviewer, Canon Maggie Swinson, recommended that extra support be given to those providing extended episcopal oversight to conservative parishes. Her report investigated the Bishop of Ebbsfleet’s workload and that of the Provincial Episcopal Visitors (PEVs), who serve the traditional catholic congregations.
Read also: ‘Flying Bishops’ need extra support, CofE reviewer says by Anna Rees Green, Premier