Mark David Ashcroft (born 3 September 1954) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2016, he has been the

Bishop of Bolton The Bishop of Bolton is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester, in the province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester; the See was erected ...

. He had previously been

Archdeacon of Manchester The Archdeacon of Manchester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England in Greater Manchester. The archdeaconry of Manchester, unusually, was established (on 29 September 1843) a few years before the Diocese of Manchester (on 1 S ...

from 2009 to 2016. Apart from ten years working in Kenya, he has spent all his ordained ministry in the Diocese of Manchester,

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 ...

Early life and education

Ashcroft was born on 3 September 1954 in

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

, England.‘ASHCROFT, Ven. Mark David’, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 201
Accessed 27 June 2013
/ref> He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

, then an all-boys public school in his home town. He studied at Worcester College, Oxford, 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 1977; as per tradition, this BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA Oxon) in 1982. From 1978 to 1979, he worked as a restaurant manager in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1979, Ashcroft entered

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and membe ...

, an Anglican

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

in the

Open Evangelical An open evangelical attempts to uphold evangelical doctrines, morality, and spirituality, while also being inclusive of others. It is a term which is commonly used in the United Kingdom in reference to both individuals and institutions. Uses Open ...

tradition, to train for ordained ministry. For the first two years, he also studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , establish ...

. He graduated from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

with a BA degree in 1981. He undertook a further year of training at Ridley Hall, before being ordained in 1982.

Ordained ministry

Ashcroft 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 ...

in the

as a

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 ...

in 1982 and as a

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 ...

in 1983. From 1982 to 1985, he served his

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 Margaret's Church,

Burnage Burnage is a suburb of the city of Manchester in North West England, about south of Manchester city centre and bisected by the dual carriageway of Kingsway. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, the population of the B ...

, in the Diocese of Manchester. He spent 1986 to 1996 as a member of the academic staff of St Paul's College, Kapsabet, one of the theological colleges of the

Anglican Church of Kenya The Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) is a province of the Anglican Communion, and it is composed by 41 dioceses. The current Primate and Archbishop of Kenya is Jackson Ole Sapit. The Anglican Church of Kenya claims 5 million total members. Accordi ...

; he was a

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in ...

between 1986 and 1989, and its principal between 1990 and 1996. In 1996, Ashcroft returned to England. He was

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Christ Church,

Harpurhey Harpurhey ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Manchester in North West England, three miles north east of the city centre. Historically in Lancashire, the population at the 2011 census was 17,652. Areas of Harpurhey include Kingsbridge Estate, Bar ...

from 1996 to 2009, and also

area 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. ...

North Manchester North Manchester was, from 1896 to 1916, a township within the Poor Law Union of Manchester, England. North Manchester was a local government sub-district used for the administration of Poor Law legislation; it was an inter-parish unit for soci ...

from 2000 to 2006. In 2004, he was made 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 ...

of Manchester Cathedral. In 2009, he was appointed the

Episcopal ministry

On 22 June 2016, it was announced that Ashcroft would become the next

, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Manchester. He was consecrated a bishop on 18 October 2016 by John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, 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 18 July 2022, it was announced that Ashcroft would retire as Bishop of Bolton during February 2023.

Personal life

Ashcroft is married to Sally. Together, they had three sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashcroft, Mark David 1954 births Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Manchester Living people Bishops of Bolton Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Alumni of Ridley Hall, Cambridge