John Nicholls (born 16 July 1943) is a British

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 who was formerly the Bishop of Sheffield.

Early life and education

Nicholls was born on 16 July 1943, the son of James and Nellie Nicholls. He was educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. He then studied at King's College, London and its postgraduate facility at

St Boniface College, Warminster St Boniface College, Warminster, formerly St Boniface Missionary College, was an Anglican educational institution in the Wiltshire town of Warminster, England during the last third of the 19th century and the first two-thirds of the 20th. It was ...

Ordained ministry

Nicholls was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1967 and as a priest in 1968. He was curate of St Clement with St Cyprian, Salford from 1967 to 1969, curate of All Saints and Martyrs, Manchester from 1969 to 1972, and vicar there from 1972 to 1978. Between 1978 and 1983, he was director of pastoral studies at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield and between 1983 and 1990 a residential canon of

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother ...

. In 1990, he became Bishop of Lancaster, a

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

in the Diocese of Blackburn. He was consecrated a bishop on 25 April 1990 by John Habgood, Archbishop of York. In 1997, he was appointed 6th Bishop of Sheffield. He was introduced in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual on 4 March 2003. He retired from full-time ministry on his 65th birthday, 16 July 2008. Nicholls has been an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Derby since 2008 and in the Diocese of Manchester since 2012. From 2007 to 2015, he was Prelate of the Venerable Order of St John. He is currently the chaplain of the Church Lads' and Church Girls' Brigade and episcopal visitor of the Oratory of the Good Shepherd.

Views

Nicholls had at first been strongly opposed to the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

. However, he had changed his mind by the time of his appointment as Bishop of Lancaster and he subsequently ordained women to the priesthood for the Diocese of Blackburn.

Personal life

Nicholls has been married to Judith Dagnall since 1969; they have two sons and two daughters.

References

External links

* 1943 births Alumni of King's College London Associates of King's College London Anglican bishops of Lancaster Bishops of Sheffield Living people Bailiffs Grand Cross of the Order of St John People educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School 20th-century Church of England bishops 21st-century Church of England bishops {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub