The Diocese of Coventry is a Church of England diocese in the

Province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consist ...

. It is headed by the Bishop of Coventry, who sits at

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The curren ...

in Coventry, and is assisted by one suffragan bishop, the

Bishop of Warwick The Bishop of Warwick is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire; the See was e ...

. The diocese covers Coventry and Warwickshire. The diocese is divided into two

archdeaconries An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of most ...

, Warwick and Coventry. Warwick archdeaconry is then divided into the deaneries of

Shipston Shipston-on-Stour is a town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England. It is located on the banks of the River Stour, south-southeast of Stratford-upon-Avon, 10 miles (16 km) north-northwest of Chipping Norton ...

, Fosse, Alcester, Southam and Warwick & Leamington, whilst Coventry archdeaconry is divided into the deaneries of Rugby, Nuneaton, Kenilworth, and Coventry South, East and North. The diocese was formed on 6 September 1918 from part of the Diocese of Worcester. An ancient Diocese of Coventry existed , united with Lichfield, in 1102-1837 with the see in Coventry until 1539. In 1837 Coventry passed to the Diocese of Worcester and the title ended. Two suffragan Bishops of Coventry existed in 1891-1903.

Bishops

The current diocesan Bishop of Coventry is

Christopher Cocksworth Christopher John Cocksworth (born 12 January 1959) is a Church of England bishop in the open evangelical tradition. He is the current Bishop of Coventry; prior to becoming bishop he was the Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Early life and e ...

, who is assisted by

John Stroyan John Ronald Angus Stroyan (born 5 May 1955) is an Anglican bishop who has been the Bishop of Warwick, the suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry, since 2005. Family, early life and education Born the son of Ronald Stroyan, ...

, Bishop suffragan of Warwick. The provincial episcopal visitor (for parishes in the diocese who reject the ministry of priests who are women) is the Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet, who is licensed as an honorary assistant bishop of the diocese in order to facilitate his work there.

David Evans David, Dave, or Dai Evans may refer to: Academics * Sir David Emrys Evans (1891–1966), Welsh classicist and university principal * David Evans (microbiologist) (1909–1984), British microbiologist * David Stanley Evans (1916–2004), British a ...

, a former Bishop of Peru and Bolivia, has been licensed as an honorary assistant bishop in the diocese since 2003; returned to England in 1988 and retired to Warwick in 2010.

Archdeaconries and archdeacons

While the diocese is divided into archdeaconries and has archdeacons like other dioceses, Coventry diocese is unique in that the two do not correlate. In 2010, the post of

Archdeacon of Warwick The Archdeacon of Warwick (now called Archdeacon Missioner) is the senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the archdeaconry of Warwick in the Diocese of Coventry. The Archdeaconry of Warwick has five Deaneries which centre on Warwick and Leami ...

was replaced by that of Archdeacon Missioner ( Morris Rodham was appointed) and statutory oversight over the archdeaconry of Warwick was delegated to the Archdeacon of Coventry (then Ian Watson). Following Watson's retirement in 2012, John Green was appointed as ''Acting Archdeacon of Coventry'' pending his installation into the new role of Archdeacon Pastor, which duly occurred on 9 December 2012. These arrangements follow the Bishop's 2009 document ''Signposts for the Future'', and the creation of the two posts of Archdeacon Missioner and Archdeacon Pastor are consistent with the suggested "transitional period" after which there will be only one archdeacon in the diocese. Rodham and Green remained, legally, collated to the Archdeaconries of Warwick and of Coventry.National Archdeacons' Forum — Archdeacons’ News — #26, July 2017
(Accessed 9 September 2017) Green retired at the end of August 2017, and

Clive Hogger Clive Hogger (born 1970) is one of several Associate Archdeacons in the Diocese of Sheffield. He was also the first person to undertake a new role as Assistant Archdeacon in the Diocese of Coventry. Prior to that he was the Acting Archdeacon Pasto ...

joined him as Acting Archdeacon for July and August, then remained Acting Archdeacon after Green's retirement.

Sue Field Susan Elizabeth Field (born 10 May 1959) is an English Anglican priest and former Archdeacon Pastor (and Archdeacon of Coventry) in the Diocese of Coventry from 18 March 2018 resigning in January 2023. Field was educated at King Edward VI High S ...

was collated Archdeacon Pastor and Archdeacon of Coventry on 18 March 2018; Barry Dugmore was collated Archdeacon Missioner and Archdeacon of Warwick on 6 October 2019.

List of churches

References

Church of England Statistics 2002

External links

{{authority control Christian organizations established in 1918 Coventry Coventry