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0 CommentsThe Bishop of St Asaph, the Rt Revd Gregory Cameron, will commission the Bishop of Warrington, the Rt Revd Beverley Mason, as an Honorary Assistant Bishop. This will take place at the Chrism Mass in St Asaph Cathedral on Maundy Thursday. This is briefly mentioned in Bishop Gregory’s April ad clerum, which notes that Bishop Bev has a home in his diocese.
The diocese of Liverpool has issued a fuller news item, which is copied below.
10 CommentsBishop Bev is to be Made an Hon Asst Bishop at St Asaph at the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday
Bishop Bev has written: “I am humbled and deeply grateful to Bishop Gregory and colleagues in St Asaph for their warm welcome, love and affirmation. St Asaph has opened the door upon a new vista and I look forward with hope to a restored and renewed ministry in the Province of the Church in Wales. The Chrism Mass is a poignant reminder for all in Christian ministry of the very essence of our calling and vocation and of our re-covenanting with the God who has lived among us in our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his Cross and Passion, has redeemed the world. I pray this will be a time of blessing and renewal for all Christ’s Church.
I remain Bishop of Warrington as I continue to wait and push for a proper resolution to my unhappy situation. Today, it is 574 days since I exercised an episcopal ministry. It feels interminable – as I imagine it does for you. Thank you for your kind support, resilience and patience.
Please continue to pray for me – as I pray for you.”
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152 CommentsThe Rt Revd Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, has announced that he will retire on 30 November 2025. Further details are on the Leeds diocesan website: Bishop Nick announces his retirement with thanks to all in our diocese.
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Neil MacGregor begins a series of uncomfortable images for Lent with Christ Discovered in the Temple by Simone Martini.
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85 CommentsThe Church of England’s House of Bishops met yesterday and issued the following press release.
House of Bishops meeting March 2025
11/03/2025
The House of Bishops met online on March 11, 2025.
Bishops spent time discussing the recent meeting of General Synod in London, including reflecting on responses to the vote on safeguarding independence.
The House then discussed proposals for work by the Liturgical Commission – the body responsible for the Church of England’s worship – and commissioned future work.
The House considered the ongoing work of the Diocesan Finance Review and agreed that work should continue on ways to raise clergy stipends subject to recommendations to be developed by the Triennium Funding Working Group.
Bishops then discussed the process of discernment leading to ordination and agreed that Assessments for Psychological Wellbeing, already widely in use across the Church of England, should become a mandatory part of the Shared Discernment Process from later this year.
The House also spent time in groups, praying and reflecting on a passage from Isaiah 55.
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121 CommentsA review of Winchester Cathedral identified “significant failings in leadership and management”, the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, said today, when a summary of the review was published. The diocese issued this press release, and the summary is here. The Dean, the Very Revd Catherine Ogle, whose retirement in May this year was announced several months ago, has said that she will immediately hand over leadership responsibilities to Vice-Dean Canon Roly Riem.
There are a number of press reports.
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The cathedral website has this list of Winchester Cathedral Updates on Bishop’s Review.
61 Comments1 Bangor Cathedral
The Church Times and the BBC reported yesterday that the Archbishop of Wales, the Most Revd Andy John, who is also the Bishop of Bangor, has ordered a visitation of Bangor Cathedral because of safeguarding concerns.
There are also these earlier reports at Nation Cymru.
2 Anthony Pierce
In unrelated news, Anthony Pierce, a former bishop of Swansea and Brecon, was convicted last month of indecent assault on a child.
BBC
Church Times
There are two statements on the provincial website.
The 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.
David Lamming has compiled a spreadsheet summarising the outcomes of these votes which he has kindly provided to us. Some votes were counts of the whole Synod, but he has extracted the voting figures for each house.
The full text of motions can be found in the official record of Business Done.
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40 CommentsThe Dean of Wakefield, the Very Revd Simon Cowling, announced this morning that he will be retiring on 31 July this year. Details are on the Leeds diocesan website.
8 CommentsUpdated Thursday and Friday and Saturday
Yesterday (Tuesday), the Church of England’s General Synod debated and voted on two proposed models (labelled 3 and 4) for independent safeguarding in the Church of England, and passed the following motion
That this Synod:
(a) thank all those involved in Church safeguarding, particularly the victims and survivors who give so generously of their wisdom and experience, often at great personal cost, and parish safeguarding officers who make sure that safeguarding is a priority in every level and all those who support them in dioceses;
(b) affirm its commitment to greater independence in safeguarding in the Church of England;
(c) thank the Response Group for its work for greater independence in safeguarding in the Church of England; and, noting the significant reservations around model 4 in paragraph 62 of GS 2378 and the legal advice from VWV dated 31st January 2025, endorse model 3 as the way forward in the short term and call for further work as to the legal and practical requirements necessary to implement model 4;
(d) and lament and repent of the failure of the Church to be welcoming to victims and survivors and the harm they have experienced and continue to experience in the life of the Church.
Details, including voting figures, are in an official press release: Synod votes on next steps for independent safeguarding.
Reactions to Synod’s vote include the following.
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.
Official list of General Synod members (updated February 2025)
[This includes bishops attending (without voting rights) in dioceses with vacancies for their diocesan bishop.]
Order papers
Notice papers
Business Done
Official press releases
Press reports and comment etc
Church Times
BBC
The Guardian
Christian Today
The Living Church
Liverpool Diocesan website
Independent
103 CommentsUpdate Sunday: Andrew Goddard has added a comment from the Bishop of Warrington to his blog. I have copied it below the fold.
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44 Comments