Philip Ian Mounstephen (born 13 July 1959) is a British Anglican bishop and

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

; he has been the

Bishop of Truro The Bishop of Truro is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Truro in the Province of Canterbury. History There had been between the 9th and 11th centuries a Bishopric of Cornwall until it was merged with Credi ...

since November 2018. From 2012 to 2018, he was the executive leader of the Church Mission Society (CMS); he previously worked for

Church Pastoral Aid Society The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency. It was founded in 1836. History of the Society The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution to take 'the gospel t ...

(CPAS) and has served in parish ministry in the

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contain ...

, the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

, and in the

Diocese in Europe The Diocese in Europe (short form for the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe) is a diocese of the Church of England. It was originally formed in 1842 as the Diocese of Gibraltar. It is geographically the largest diocese of the Church of England and th ...

Early life and education

Mounstephen was born on 13 July 1959 in

Crookham Village Crookham Village is located south-west of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England and lies within the Hart District. History Crookham (formerly Crokeham) dates back at least as far as the Domesday Book, although Crookham Village and Church Cro ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England.'MOUNSTEPHEN, Rev. Canon Philip Ian', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 13 July 2017
/ref> He was educated at

St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty pupils live in each of its thirteen houses. The school is a member of the Rugby G ...

, an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

boarding school in Oxford, Oxfordshire. He studied English literature at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

, 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 1980. He then underwent

teacher training Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their t ...

at Magdalen College, Oxford, completing his

Postgraduate Certificate in Education The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which provides training in order to allow graduates to become teachers within maintained schools. In ...

(PGCE) in 1981. In 1985, Mounstephen entered

Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England 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 of Balliol College, Oxf ...

, an

Evangelical Anglican Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

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, ...

, to train for ordained ministry. During this time, he also studied theology at Magdalen College, Oxford, and he graduated with a further BA in 1987: as per tradition, his BA was later 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) degree. He also completed a Certificate in Theology (CTh) in 1988.

Ordained ministry

Mounstephen 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 ...

Petertide Petertide (also known as St Peter's Tide) refers to the Sunday nearest to St Peter's Day on 29 June and to the period around that day. In Anglicanism, Petertide is the major one of two traditional periods for the ordination of new priests (the ot ...

1988 (3 July) at St Mary's Church, Amersham 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 ...

the following Petertide (2 July 1989) at

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual r ...

— both times by Simon Burrows,

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 er ...

. From 1988 to 1992, 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 James Church, Gerrards Cross with St James' Church,

Fulmer Fulmer is a village and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England. The village has along most of its northern border a narrow green buffer from Gerrards Cross and is heavily wooded adjoining neighbouring villages of Iver Heath and Wexham. ...

in the

. From 1992 to 1998, he was

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of St James Church, West Streatham in the

. In 1998, Mounstephen joined the

(CPAS) and served in a number of roles. He was head of Pathfinders from 1998 to 2002; director of the CY Network from 2001 to 2002; head of ministry from 2002 to 2007; and deputy general director from 2004 to 2007. In January 2007, Mounstephen returned to parish ministry as chaplain (the senior minister) of St Michael's Church, Paris. During his time in Paris, he also served as a member of the diocesan synod of the

. He was a made a

minor canon A minor canon is a member of staff on the establishment of a cathedral or a collegiate church. In at least one foundation the post may be known as "priest-vicar". Minor canons are clergy and take part in the daily services but are not part of t ...

of the

Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Gibraltar The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity is the cathedral for the Church of England Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. Located in Cathedral Square, it is sometimes referred to simply as Gibraltar Cathedral, although it should not be confused with the Cat ...

, in August 2012, and he was collated as a "canon without stall" during a service at St Matthew's Church, Westminster, in October 2017. On 1 July 2012, it was announced that Mounstephen would be the next executive leader of the Church Mission Society (CMS) in succession to Tim Dakin. He took up the post on 13 October 2012 during a commissioning service at St Aldate's Church, Oxford. On 30 August 2018, it was announced that Mounstephen would be the next

, the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Truro. He officially became bishop upon the confirmation — on 20 November 2018 at St-Mary-le-Bow — of his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

; he was consecrated a bishop on 30 November at St Paul's Cathedral by

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was welcomed at Truro Cathedral on 12 January 2019.

Personal life

In 1984, Mounstephen married Ruth Weston. Together they have one daughter.

Selected works

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mounstephen, Philip Ian 1959 births Living people British Anglican missionaries 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century Church of England bishops People from Hampshire (before 1974) Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Diocese in Europe clergy Bishops of Truro