Michael Geoffrey Ipgrave (born 18 April 1958) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2016, he has been the 99th

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Wes ...

, the diocesan bishop of the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

. He was the

Bishop of Woolwich The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Woolwich, a suburb of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Tw ...

, an

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 ...

in the Diocese of Southwark, from 2012 to 2016. He served as Archdeacon of Southwark between 2004 and 2012.

Early life and education

Ipgrave was born on 18 April 1958 in Northampton, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. He was educated at

Magdalen College School, Brackley Magdalen College School, Brackley, in Northamptonshire, is one of three ancient "Magdalen College Schools", the others being Magdalen College School in Oxford, and Wainfleet All Saints in Lincolnshire, all associated with Magdalen College, Oxf ...

, a state school in

South Northamptonshire South Northamptonshire was, from 1974 to 2021, a district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority District Council in ...

. From 1975 to 1978, he studied mathematics at Oriel College, Oxford, and graduated from 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 ...

with a first class Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree. From 1979 to 1980, he attended the Spring Hill Ordination Scheme in Birmingham. From 1979 to 1982, he trained for ordination 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 mi ...

, an Anglican theological college near

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 ...

. During that period he also studied theology at the University of Oxford, and graduated with an additional first class BA. In 1999 Ipgrave completed a doctorate at Durham University with a thesis entitled ''Trinity and inter-faith dialogue: plenitude and plurality''.

Ordained ministry

Ipgrave 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

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 ...

: made 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 ...

at Petertide 1982 (27 June) and ordained 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 the Petertide following (26 June 1983) 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 ...

. After a

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 ...

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

followed by time in Japan, he was a team vicar in two separate Leicester parishes. In Leicester, in 1991, he was appointed diocesan chaplain for relations with people of other faiths, and bishops' domestic chaplain in 1992. He was appointed Archdeacon of Southwark in 2004. In 2010 he also became Canon Missioner of Southwark Cathedral. He was co-chair of Southwark and London Housing Association (now Amicus Horizon) He was formerly Inter Faith Relations Advisor to 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 secretary of the Churches' Commission on Inter-Faith Relations.

Episcopal ministry

On 3 February 2012, Ipgrave was announced as the next

, an

in the Diocese of Southwark. On 21 March 2012, he was consecrated a bishop, by

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bish ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, during a service in Southwark Cathedral. He also served as Warden of Readers for the diocese. In May 2013, he read bidding prayers at a Mass for Lee Rigby who was murdered by Islamists in the 2013 Woolwich attack. Since February 2015 Ipgrave has been chair of the Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ). On 2 March 2016, it was announced that he was to become the next diocesan

. His

canonical election A canonical election, in the canon law of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, is the designation of a suitable candidate to a vacant ecclesiastical office by a vote of a collegial body.Fernando della Rocca, "Manual of Canon Law", pg. 170 (§79 ...

to that See was confirmed on 10 June 2016;OurCofE twitter
(Accessed 11 June 2016) his installation at

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

took place on 24 September 2016.

Personal life

In 1981, Ipgrave married Julia Bailey. Together they have raised three children.

Honours

In the 2011 New Year Honours, Ipgrave was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to inter-faith relations in London".

Selected works

He has edited six volumes on Christian and Muslim relations. He is author of ''Trinity and Inter Faith Dialogue'', and has contributed to journal articles and book chapters on inter-faith matters. * *

References

External links

Interviewed on ANN TV 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ipgrave, Michael Archdeacons of Southwark Bishops of Woolwich Officers of the Order of the British Empire Anglo-Catholic bishops 1958 births Living people People educated at Magdalen College School, Brackley Alumni of St Chad's College, Durham Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford