Graham Richard James (born 19 January 1951) is a retired British Anglican bishop. He was

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in t ...

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 Britai ...

from 1999 to 2019.

Early life and education

James was born in

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England, to the Revd Lionel and Florence James. He was educated at

Northampton Grammar School Northampton School for Boys (NSB) is a secondary school in Northampton, England. It was founded as Northampton Town and County Grammar School in 1541 by Thomas Chipsey, Mayor of Northampton. Years 7 to 11 are boys-only, while Sixth Form classes ...

, an all-boys school in Northampton. He studied at the

University of Lancaster , mottoeng = Truth lies open to all , established = , endowment = £13.9 million , budget = £317.9 million , type = Public , city = Bailrigg, City of Lancaster , country = England , coor = , campus = Bailrigg , faculty = ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) degree in history in 1972. He trained for ordination at Cuddesdon Theological College from 1972 to 1975, and studied theology at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, completing a diploma in 1974.

Ordained ministry

2012 National Pilgrimage to Walsingham (7345121296)

James was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

Michaelmas Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, ...

1975 (21 September) and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

the next Michaelmas (26 September 1976), both times by

Douglas Feaver Douglas Russell Feaver (1914–1997) was the Bishop of Peterborough in the Church of England from 1972 to 1984. Fever was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Keble College, Oxford; and ordained in 1938. He was a curate at St Alban's Abbey t ...

, Bishop of Peterborough, at

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

. He was assistant curate of Christ the Carpenter Church,

Dogsthorpe Dogsthorpe is a residential area and electoral ward of the city of Peterborough, in the Peterborough district, in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 9,620. Cambridgeshire Fire and ...

from 1975 to 1978. From there he moved to Christ the King,

Digswell Digswell is an ancient village and former parish in the English county of Hertfordshire which is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book. The population of the urban area of Digswell in the 2011 Census was 1,632. Digswell's name may be derived from ...

, from 1979 to 1983, became a member of the Advisory Council for the Church's Ministry in 1983 and held this post until 1987. Between 1983 and 1985, he was Selection Secretary and

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

for Continuing Education and between 1985 and 1987 Senior Selection Secretary. He was chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1987 to 1993.

Episcopal ministry

On 23 February 1993, James was consecrated a bishop by

George Carey George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his time as archbishop the C ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. He was the Bishop of St Germans in the Diocese of Truro from 1993 to 1999. From 1995 he was a member of the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

and from 1999 the 71st Bishop of Norwich. He was installed at

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedra ...

on 29 January 2000. In 2004, James became a

Lord Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 26 out of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not counting retired archbi ...

and sat 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 ...

. From 2006 he was a member of the

Archbishops' Council The Archbishops' Council is a part of the governance structures of the Church of England. Its headquarters are at Church House, Great Smith Street, London. The council was created in 1999 to provide a central executive body to co-ordinate and lead ...

and chair of the Ministry Division, Church of England. He chairs the BBC's Standing Conference on Religion and Belief. James retired on 28 February 2019. He is a regular contributor to

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

's ''

Thought for the Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...

''. Since late 2019, he has been licensed as an

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

in the Diocese of Truro.

Other activities

In 2004, James joined the House of Lords as a

. In 2011, he became a member of the Lords Select Committee on Communications, and he was subsequently appointed spokesman for the Church of England on media issues. In 2019, he chaired the independent inquiry into the malpractice by surgeon Ian Paterson.

Personal life

James has been married to Julie since 1978. They have three children; one died in infancy.

Styles

* ''

The Reverend The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

'' Graham James (1975–1993) * ''

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 ...

'' Graham James (1993–2019)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Graham 1951 births Alumni of Lancaster University Bishops of St Germans Bishops of Norwich Living people Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon People from Bideford 20th-century Church of England bishops 21st-century Church of England bishops