The Bishop of Southwark ( ) is the ordinary of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

in the Province of Canterbury.Diocese of Southwark: History
. Retrieved on 21 October 2013.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . Until 1877, Southwark had been part of the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enl ...

when it was transferred to the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal signa ...

. In 1891, the Bishop of Rochester appointed Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs the only suffragan bishop of Southwark and an ancient parish church in Southwark was restored to become a

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostoli ...

in 1897, which later became

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwar ...

. The bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Streatham. On 1 May 1905, the

was created and covers Greater London south of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

and east Surrey, broadly defined. The Bishop of Southwark is assisted by the suffragan bishops of Croydon, of Kingston and of Woolwich who each oversee an

episcopal area An episcopal area in the United Methodist Church (UMC) is a basic unit of this denomination. It is a region presided over by a resident bishop that is similar to a diocese in other Christian denominations. Each annual conference in the UMC is wi ...

of the diocese. The current and previous bishops have been cited in canonical practice in its interpretation as "

valid but irregular Valid but irregular is a term used in Christian churches which have a concept of Holy Orders, such as the Anglican churches, to sacramental actions by someone who is able, due to their already being ordained to the appropriate orders, to carry ou ...

" of three ordinations of candidates ordained abroad, associated with a conservative evangelical church-forming group, the Anglican Mission in England, having expressed, in the church's view, extreme views on a complex subject. The current bishop is Christopher Chessun, the 10th Bishop of Southwark, who signs ''+Christopher Southwark''. He had previously been the area

Bishop of Woolwich The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Woolwich, a suburb of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Tw ...

(2005–2011). When the post-holder ranks among the longest-serving 21 bishops heading a diocese, he or she will qualify for a place in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

, joining the other five who qualify '' ex officio'', including the two archbishops.

List of bishops

Assistant bishops

Among those who have served as assistant bishops in the diocese have been: *1964–1968: Gething Caulton, former Bishop of Melanesia and Assistant Bishop of Auckland *1968–1972 (d.): John Boys, former Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman *19671971 (ret.): Lawrence Barham, Minister of Emmanuel Church,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and former Bishop of Rwanda and Burundi. Edward Lawrence Barham (25 June 19015 June 1973) was a

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

; and trained for the ministry at

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and member ...

. He was made deacon on Trinity Sunday 1925 (7 June) and ordained priest the following Trinity Sunday (30 May 1926) — both times by

Cyril Garbett Cyril Forster Garbett (6 February 1875 – 31 December 1955) was an Anglican bishop and author. He was successively the Bishop of Southwark, the Bishop of Winchester and the Archbishop of York from 1942 to 1955. Early life Garbett was born in ...

, Bishop of Southwark, at

. After his curacy in

Hatcham Hatcham was a manor and later a chapelry in what is now London, England. It largely corresponds to the area around New Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham. The ancient parish of Deptford straddled the counties of Surrey and Kent and there c ...

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

(1925–28), he went as a missionary of the

Church Mission Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

, first to Uganda until 1938, then to Ruanda-Urundi, 1938–57. He was additionally made a Canon of the Diocese of Uganda, 1939; and appointed

Archdeacon of Nkore-Kigezi 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 mos ...

(in the same diocese), 1957–59. Returning to England, he served as General Secretary of the CMS Ruanda Mission until his appointment as Bishop of Rwanda and Burundi in 1964. He was consecrated a bishop on 8 March 1964, by Leslie Brown,

Archbishop of Uganda The Anglican ecclesiastical province of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi was formed in 1961 following the division of the diocese of Uganda the previous year. Prior to 1980, the province included Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga, in what was then the co ...

and Bishop of Namirembe, at

Namirembe Cathedral Saint Paul's Cathedral Namirembe, commonly referred to as Namirembe Cathedral, is the oldest cathedral in Uganda. It serves as the provincial cathedral of the Anglican Church of Uganda and the diocesan cathedral for Namirembe Diocese, the first d ...

; and served until 1966, when he resigned and returned to London in 1966. *19741975: Br John-Charles SSF, former Assistant Bishop of Adelaide and

Bishop of Polynesia The Diocese of Polynesia, or the Tikanga Pasefika serves Anglicans in Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands, within the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The diocese's first bishop was consecrated in 1908. The diocese's c ...

*19751987 (ret.):

Edward Knapp-Fisher Edward George Knapp-Fisher (8 January 19157 February 2003) was an Anglican bishop and scholar. Life Knapp-Fisher was born in Chatham, Kent, United Kingdom. His father was also an Anglican priest. He was educated at The King's School, Worc ...

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

and

Archdeacon of Westminster The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter ar ...

, Sub-

Dean of Westminster The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the Abbey's status as a Royal Peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterbu ...

(from 1982) and former

Bishop of Pretoria The Diocese of Pretoria is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It is divided into seven archdeaconries and has 61 parishes. History The diocese originally covered the whole of the South African Republic, which later became the T ...

References

External links

Crockford's Clerical Directory - Listings
{{Anglican Bishops & Archbishops - Great Britain

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

Bishops of Southwark