New Bishops of Truro and of Aston announced
As we come into the final weeks of 2024 and a time of such momentous change for the Church of England there are a few signs of hope for the future. We had the appointments of the Bishop of Truro, David Williams and the suffragan Bishop of Aston, Esther Prior. They are both evangelical by conviction, but I hope will be embraced widely because they both have strong parish experience. In particular, David Williams has some 25 years of parish ministry behind him and his translation from Basingstoke to Truro can be seen as a corrective to the centralizing path that the C of E has been taking during the Welby years. Much more will have to be undone. There is a need for greater diversity in the House and College of Bishops, and by that I mean opinion diversity as much as anything else. This should come from sweeping away the leadership pathway and picking as bishops those who have excelled at the coalface of parish ministry, as well as finding ways to ensure that we also have theological scholars in the House of Bishops. This may mean investment into theological scholarships and training.
In other news we learn that the House of Bishops have been considering the Makin Review and the fallout from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s shock resignation. And at long last the Starmer government has appointed a Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief. He is David Smith MP and is one of the new-elected cohort represented North Northumberland. He has served as Chief Executive of Assis Community Housing, the Bible Society and Tearfund.
He said, “From sub-Saharan Africa to the Middle East and Asia I have personally worked with those of different faiths who face religious persecution and so these are issues that I care passionately about.” It is to be hoped that he will be as effective as his predecessor, Fiona Bruce, MP.
Syria should, in the meantime, be a place occupying our prayers. Christians and other minorities are filled with fear about the new Islamist nationalist regime. We must pray that the promises offered to protect freedom of worship of minorities will be kept. We will be monitoring this in the coming weeks.
Andrew Carey. Church of England Newspaper Newsletter December 13
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