John Martin Wharton, (born 6 August 1944) 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, a retired Bishop of Newcastle.

Early life and education

Wharton was born in

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the 2011 census to 11,678. Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few mi ...

, Lancashire, the son of John Wharton and Marjorie Skinner. e was educated at Ulverston Grammar School and

Van Mildert College, Durham Van Mildert College (known colloquially as Mildert) is a college of Durham University in England. Founded in 1965, it takes its name from William Van Mildert, Prince-Bishop of Durham from 1826 to 1836 and a leading figure in the University's 1832 ...

where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in economics, politics and sociology in 1969. He was further educated at

Linacre College, Oxford Linacre College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the UK whose members comprise approximately 50 fellows and 550 postgraduate students. Linacre is a diverse college in terms of both the international composition of its me ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

(BTh) and an Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) in 1971, as well as at

Ripon Hall, Oxford Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

Career

Ordained ministry

Wharton was curate of St Peter's Church, Spring Hill, Birmingham, from 1972 to 1975 and of St John the Baptist, Croydon (now Croydon Minster), from 1975 to 1977. Between 1977 and 1983 he was Director of Pastoral Studies at

Ripon College Cuddesdon Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

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 ...

. He was additionally a curate of the

Church of All Saints, Cuddesdon The Church of All Saints is a Church of England parish church in Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire. The church is a grade I listed building and it dates from the 12th century. History Abingdon Abbey founded the parish in Cuddesdon in about AD 1180. The chur ...

from 1979 to 1983. Between 1983 and 1992 he was the Director of Ministry and Training in the

Diocese of Bradford The Diocese of Bradford is a former Church of England diocese within the Province of York. The diocese covered the area of the City of Bradford, Craven district and the former Sedbergh Rural District now in Cumbria. The seat of the episcopal ...

and a residentiary canon of

Bradford Cathedral Bradford Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, one of three co-equal cathedrals in the Diocese of Leeds alongside Ripon and Wakefield. Its site has been used for Chri ...

. In 1992, Wharton 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 Ch ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, at

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

on 3 November 1992, to become

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape A shape or figure is a graphics, graphical representation of an obje ...

Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames The Bishop of Kingston (technically of ''Kingston upon Thames'' or, originally, of ''Kingston-on-Thames'') is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The ti ...

; he held that post until 1997, when he was appointed the 11th Bishop of Newcastle.

Other work

Wharton is a trustee of

St Hilda's Trust ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, of the Northumbria Historic Churches Trust and The Hild Bede Trust. He is also trustee of the Shepherds Law Hermitage Trust and the Newcastle Diocesan Society. He served for ten years as Chair of Governors of

St Chad's College , motto_English = Not what you have, but who you are , scarf = , established = 1904 , principal = Margaret Masson , senior_tutor = Eleanor Spencer-Regan , undergraduates = 409 , postgraduates = 150 , website = , coordinates = , location_map ...

, Durham. The college made him an honorary fellow in 2010.

Views

On 11 February 2017, Wharton was one of fourteen retired bishops to sign an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

to the then-serving bishops of the Church of England. In an unprecedented move, they expressed their opposition to the House of Bishops' report to

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly (Church of England), Church Assembly, is t ...

on sexuality, which recommended no change to the Church's canons or practises around sexuality. By 13 February, a serving bishop ( Alan Wilson,

Bishop of Buckingham The Bishop of Buckingham is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the historic county town of Buckingham; the See was erec ...

) and nine further retired bishops had added their signatures; on 15 February, the report was rejected by synod.

Personal life

Since 1970, he has been married to Marlene Olive Duckett. They have one daughter and two sons. Wharton was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the Church of England and to the community in the North East.

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 ...

'' Martin Wharton (1972–1983) * ''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 can ...

Martin Wharton (1983–1992)The Independent — Church appointments, 11 July 1992
/ref> * ''

The Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style (manner of address), style applied to certain religion, religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom, ...

'' Martin Wharton (1992—2011) * ''The Right Reverend'' Martin Wharton (2011–present)

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Martin 1944 births Alumni of Van Mildert College, Durham Bishops of Newcastle 20th-century Church of England bishops 21st-century Church of England bishops Living people People from Ulverston Alumni of Linacre College, Oxford People educated at Ulverston Grammar School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire