Richard Alexander Lewers (known as Rick Lewers; born ) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

bishop 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 ...

in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the R ...

, who served as the Bishop of Armidale from 29 May 2012 to 30 January 2021.

Early life and parish ministry

Lewers grew up in the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

and originally worked in banking. He studied for ministry at

Sydney Missionary and Bible College Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC) is an independent, evangelical interdenominational Bible college A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute, is an evangelical Christian or Restoration Moveme ...

and

Moore Theological College Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The president of the Moore Theological College Council is ''ex officio'' t ...

. After his ordination, he served a curacy in the late 1980s at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and then moved to the

Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn The Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn is one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese has 60 parishes covering most of south-east New South Wales, the eastern Riverina and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It st ...

for 11 years, eventually serving as Rector of St Matthew's,

Wanniassa Wanniassa () (postcode 2903) is a suburb in Australia's capital, Canberra: more specifically, in the city's southern district of Tuggeranong. The suburb takes its name from a pastoral property granted to Thomas McQuoid in 1835, which he named af ...

. While in Canberra, Lewers served as sports chaplain to the

Canberra Cosmos FC Canberra Cosmos Football Club was an Australian association football, soccer club based in Canberra, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. It participated in the National Soccer League from the 1995/96 season until the end of the 2000/01 seaso ...

and the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

. Lewers then returned to the

Anglican Diocese of Sydney The Diocese of Sydney is a diocese in Sydney, within the Province of New South Wales of the Anglican Church of Australia. The majority of the diocese is evangelical and low church in tradition. The diocese goes as far as Lithgow in the wes ...

, working for the Diocese's Department of Evangelism and then serving as the rector of

Engadine Engadine may refer to: Places * Engadin(e), a valley region in Switzerland *Engadine, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Engadine, Michigan, unincorporated community in Michigan *Engadine (Candler, North Carolina) Engadine, also kno ...

Anglican Church, a position which he held until his election as bishop.

Episcopal ministry

In November 2011, Lewers was appointed as the new Bishop of Armidale, succeeding

Peter Brain Peter Robert Brain (born 2 April 1947) is a retired bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. He was Bishop of Armidale from 2000 until April 2012. Brain was educated at North Sydney Technical High School. Brain studied at Moore Theological ...

who had served for the previous 11 years and who had retired in April that year. He consecrated bishop in

St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney St Andrew's Cathedral (also known as St Andrew's Anglican Cathedral) is a cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The cathedral is the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney and Metropolitan ...

on 25 May 2012 by Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen, and installed as Bishop of Armidale in

St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale St Peter's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral with heritage-listed building and grounds at 122 Rusden Street, Armidale, Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Armidale. and the s ...

on 29 May 2012. As Bishop, Lewers wrote a column in the local news, the Armidale Express, called "Faith Matters". Lewers announced his intention to resign as Bishop on 21 July 2020 to take up a Rector's position at Shoalhaven Heads, New South Wales, with the resignation to take effect from 30 January 2021.

Personal life

Lewers is married to Janene, and has 3 adult children.

References

Living people Anglican bishops of Armidale 21st-century Anglican bishops in Australia Moore Theological College alumni People from the Sutherland Shire 1957 births {{Australia-Anglican-bishop-stub