Francis White (born 26 May 1949) is a retired English

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop 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 ...

. He was

Bishop of Brixworth The Bishop of Brixworth is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Peterborough, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the village of Brixworth in Northamptonshire and ha ...

and then the Assistant Bishop of Newcastle, in 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 Britain ...

Early life

White was educated at

University College Cardiff , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

, after which he was a

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er for nine years.

Ordained ministry

White 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 1980 and was a

curate 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 ...

St Nicholas' Church, Durham St Nicholas Church, commonly known as St Nics, is a Church of England place of worship located on Durham marketplace and is the city's civic church. The church stands in the open evangelical tradition of the Church of England. History Old S ...

and then

hospital chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

at the

University Hospital of North Durham University Hospital of North Durham is an acute care hospital built to replace the older Dryburn Hospital on the same site. It is managed by the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Drybu ...

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of Birtley,

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective. ...

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea at Sun ...

and

Archdeacon of Sunderland The Diocese of Durham is a Church of England diocese, based in Durham, and covering the historic county of Durham (and therefore including the part of Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne, and excluding southern Teesdale). It was created in AD ...

. He has strong views on why fewer and fewer Anglicans regularly attend church.BBC report
/ref>

Episcopal ministry

White was ordained 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 ...

in 2002 as the

in the Diocese of Peterborough. For much of 2008 and 2009 he deputised for Ian Cundy, Bishop of Peterborough, before Cundy's death from cancer. In May 2010 it was announced that White would become the Assistant Bishop of Newcastle from 28 November 2010. He retired on 30 September 2016.

Personal life

Farewell to the Rt Revd Alison White (51903018517)

White is a supporter of his hometown football team,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. He is a keen

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

. White is married to Alison White, retired

Bishop of Hull The Bishop of Hull is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of York, England. The suffragan bishop, along with the Bishop of Selby and the Bishop of Whitby, assists the Archbishop of York in overseeing t ...

. They are the first husband and wife to both be bishops.

Styles

*''

The Reverend The Reverend is an style (manner of address), honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and Minister of religion, ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and c ...

'' Frank White (1980–1997) *''The

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

'' Frank White (1997–2002) *''The

Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style applied to certain religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church in Great Britain, it applies to bishops, except that ''The M ...

'' Frank White (2002–present)

References

1949 births People from Newcastle upon Tyne Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Living people Archdeacons of Sunderland Bishops of Brixworth Assistant bishops of Newcastle (1980–2016) 21st-century Church of England bishops {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub