David John Atkinson (born 5 September 1943) is the former

Bishop of Thetford The Bishop of Thetford is an episcopal title which takes its name after the market town of Thetford in Norfolk, England. The title was originally used by the Normans in the 11th century, and is now used by a Church of England suffragan bishop. ...

Early life and education

Atkinson was educated at

Maidstone Grammar School Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) is a grammar school in Maidstone, England. The school was founded in 1549 after Protector Somerset sold Corpus Christi Hall on behalf of King Edward VI to the people of Maidstone for £200. The Royal Charter fo ...

and

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

(he became an

Associate of King's College The Associateship or Associate of King's College (AKC) award was the degree-equivalent qualification of King's College London from 1833. It is the original qualification that King's awarded to its students. In current practice, it is an optional ...

and, at other points, a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

Master of Letters The Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland ...

, Oxford Master of Arts , and

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

). He had a short career as a chemistry teacher.

Ordained ministry

Atkinson was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

in 1973. His career began with a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St Peter Halliwell,

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, after which he was Curate at St John, Harborne, Birmingham, and then Librarian at Latimer House, Oxford. From 1977 he was

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

(and a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

) of

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, and part-time Lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, then a

canon residentiary A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

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 Southwark. ...

and finally (before his elevation to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

)

Archdeacon of Lewisham The Archdeacons in the Anglican Diocese of Southwark, Diocese of Southwark are senior clergy in the Church of England in South London and Surrey. They currently include: the archdeacons of Southwark, of Reigate (formerly of Kingston-on-Thames) and ...

. He was Bishop of Thetford from 2001 to 2009. In 2009 he became an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Southwark. He has been Northrupp Visiting Professor at Hope College, Holland, Michigan, and Visiting Lecturer at St John's College, Hong Kong, and at the South Asia institute of Advanced Christian Studies. He is a member of the Society of Ordained Scientists, and has served on the Board of Operation Noah. Atkinson is married with two children and eight grandchildren. He retired on 16 September 2009. On 11 February 2017, Atkinson was one of fourteen retired bishops to sign an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

to the then-serving bishops of the Church of England. In an unprecedented move, they expressed their opposition to the House of Bishops' report to

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly (Church of England), Church Assembly, is t ...

on sexuality, which recommended no change to the Church's canons or practices around sexuality. By 13 February, a serving bishop ( Alan Wilson,

Bishop of Buckingham The Bishop of Buckingham is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the historic county town of Buckingham; the See was er ...

) and nine further retired bishops had added their signatures; on 15 February, the report was rejected by synod.''The Guardian'' — Church of England in turmoil as synod rejects report on same-sex relationships
(Accessed 17 February 2017)

Bibliography

He has written a number of books on pastoral theology, Christian ethics and biblical studies. *''Prophecy'', Grove 1977 *''The Values of Science'', Grove 1980 *''Tasks for the Church in the Marriage Debate'', Latimer 1979 *''The Moral Teaching of the Apostle Paul'', Christian Theology Trust 1991 *''The Ethics of the Johannine Literature'', Christian Theology Trust 1993 *''Life and Death'', Oxford University Press 1985 *''To Have and To Hold: The Marriage Covenant and the Discipline of Divorce'', Collins, and Eerdmans 1979 *''Homosexuals in the Christian Fellowship'', Latimer House and Eerdmans 1979 * ''Bible Speaks Today: Ruth'', 1983 *''Bible Speaks Today: Genesis 1–11'', 1990 *''Bible Speaks Today: Job'', 1991 *''Bible Speaks Today: Proverbs'', 1996 *''Peace in Our Time?'' (on nuclear deterrence) 1985 *''Pastoral Ethics'' (textbook) 1989 revised SPCK 1994 *''Counselling In Context'' (with Francis Bridger), Harper Collins 1994, re-issued Darton Longman and Todd 1998 *edited (with David Field) ''New Dictionary of Christian Ethics and Pastoral Theology'', IVP 1995 *''Jesus, Lamb of God'', SPCK 1996 *''God So Loved the World'', (towards a missionary theology) SPCK 1999; chapter in Terry Brown (ed) *''Other Voices, Other Worlds'', (DLT 2005) *''Renewing the Face of the Earth'' (pastoral and theological response to climate change) Canterbury Press 2008 *''The Church's Healing Ministry – practical and pastoral reflections'' Canterbury Press 2011 *''Hope Rediscovered – biblical wisdom for an anxious world'' Ekklesia Publishing 2018 *''The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ'' Wipf and Stock 2020 *''A Light for the Pathway: exploring the Psalms'' Wipf and Stock 2021 ;Articles *''Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' *''Evangelical Dictionary of Ethics'' *''Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, David 1943 births Living people People educated at Maidstone Grammar School Alumni of King's College London Associates of King's College Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Archdeacons of Lewisham 21st-century Church of England bishops Bishops of Thetford Bible commentators