James Harold Bell (born 20 November 1950) is a retired British Anglican bishop. He was the area

Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight o ...

in the Diocese of Leeds.

Early life

Bell studied modern history at

St John's College, Durham St John's College is a college of the University of Durham, United Kingdom. It is one of only two "recognised colleges" of the university, the other being St Chad's. This means that it is financially and constitutionally independent of the univer ...

(BA 1972).Cumberland & Westmorland Herald — Former Eden school pupil becomes a bishop
/ref> Then began a 10-year residence in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where from 1972 until 1975 he studied for ordination at

Wycliffe Hall Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England Seminary, theological college and a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was Master (college), mast ...

, meanwhile

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

in 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 ...

as a member of

St Peter's Hall St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th c ...

, taking 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) in Theology in 1974 (having read for the Final Honour School alone) and incepting as an Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) in 1978.

Ordained ministry

Upon his ordination as a deacon in 1975 he was appointed Honorary Curate of Oxford St Michael with St Martin and All Saints and the following year, having been ordained priest, he because Chaplain and Lecturer of

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

until 1982. He held several pastoral posts in West London before moving to the

Diocese of Ripon and Leeds The Diocese of Ripon (Diocese of Ripon and Leeds from 1999 until 2014) was a former Church of England diocese, part of the Province of York. Immediately prior to its dissolution, it covered an area in western and northern Yorkshire as well as ...

in 1997. Initially ''Director of Mission'' (and an

Honorary Canon 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 ...

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, i ...

) he was appointed suffragan

Bishop of Knaresborough 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 ...

following the death of Frank Weston. Bell was consecrated a bishop by David Hope,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, during a service at

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...

on 2 March 2004. He was installed as Bishop of Knaresborough at

on 14 March 2004. From 2004 until the creation of the Diocese of Leeds in 2014, Bell was suffragan

in the

; upon the dissolution of the Ripon diocese and the erection of the Leeds diocese, Bell became

area 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 ...

for the Ripon area. His title remained Bishop of Knaresborough until that See was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to Ripon (i.e. the title changed to

) by

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

of 19 March 2015. On 23 October 2016, it was announced that Bell was to retire effective 30 April 2017.Diocese of Leeds — Bishop of Ripon to retire
(Accessed 25 October 2016).

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 ...

'' James Bell (1975–1997) *''The Reverend''

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 ...

James Bell (1997–2004) *''The Right Reverend'' James Bell (2004–present)

References

External links

archived
website that contains information about James Bell, as of 23 September 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, James Bishops of Knaresborough Anglican Diocese of Leeds 1950 births Living people Alumni of St John's College, Durham Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford Bishops of Ripon (modern area bishops)