The Diocese of Coventry is a

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 Brit ...

diocese in the

Province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consist ...

. It is headed by the

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The presen ...

, who sits at

Coventry Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The cur ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, and is assisted by one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Warwick. The diocese covers Coventry and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avo ...

. The diocese is divided into two

archdeaconries An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...

, Warwick and

. Warwick archdeaconry is then divided into the deaneries of Shipston, Fosse,

Alcester Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Reddit ...

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Southam is situated on the River Stowe (called 'The Brook' by many locals), which flows from Napton-on-the-Hill and joins Warwickshire's ...

and

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

& Leamington, whilst Coventry archdeaconry is divided into the deaneries of Rugby, Nuneaton, Kenilworth, and Coventry South, East and North. The diocese was formed on 6 September 1918 from part of the Diocese of Worcester. An ancient Diocese of Coventry existed , united with Lichfield, in 1102-1837 with the see in Coventry until 1539. In 1837 Coventry passed to the Diocese of Worcester and the title ended. Two suffragan Bishops of Coventry existed in 1891-1903.

Bishops

The current diocesan

Christopher Cocksworth Christopher John Cocksworth (born 12 January 1959) is a Church of England bishop in the open evangelical tradition. He is the current Bishop of Coventry; prior to becoming bishop he was the Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. Early life and ...

, who is assisted by

John Stroyan John Ronald Angus Stroyan (born 5 May 1955) is an Anglican bishop who has been the Bishop of Warwick, the suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry, since 2005. Family, early life and education Born the son of Ronald Stroya ...

, Bishop suffragan of Warwick. The

provincial episcopal visitor A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

(for parishes in the diocese who reject the ministry of priests who are women) is the Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet, who is licensed as an

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

of the diocese in order to facilitate his work there. David Evans, a former

Bishop of Peru The Anglican Church of South America ( es, Iglesia Anglicana de Sudamérica) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion that covers six dioceses in the countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. Formed in 1981 ...

and Bolivia, has been licensed as an honorary assistant bishop in the diocese since 2003; returned to England in 1988 and retired to

in 2010.

Archdeaconries and archdeacons

While the diocese is divided into archdeaconries and has archdeacons like other dioceses, Coventry diocese is unique in that the two do not correlate. In 2010, the post of

Archdeacon of Warwick The Archdeacon of Warwick (now called Archdeacon Missioner) is the senior ecclesiastical officer in charge of the archdeaconry of Warwick in the Diocese of Coventry. The Archdeaconry of Warwick has five Deaneries which centre on Warwick and Leami ...

was replaced by that of Archdeacon Missioner ( Morris Rodham was appointed) and statutory oversight over the archdeaconry of Warwick was delegated to the

Archdeacon of Coventry The Archdeacon of Coventry is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Coventry. The post has been called the '' Archdeacon Pastor'' since 2012. History The post was historically within the Diocese of Lichfield beginnin ...

(then Ian Watson). Following Watson's retirement in 2012,

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is ...

was appointed as ''Acting Archdeacon of Coventry'' pending his installation into the new role of Archdeacon Pastor, which duly occurred on 9 December 2012. These arrangements follow the Bishop's 2009 document ''Signposts for the Future'', and the creation of the two posts of Archdeacon Missioner and Archdeacon Pastor are consistent with the suggested "transitional period" after which there will be only one archdeacon in the diocese. Rodham and Green remained, legally, collated to the Archdeaconries of Warwick and of Coventry.National Archdeacons' Forum — Archdeacons’ News — #26, July 2017
(Accessed 9 September 2017) Green retired at the end of August 2017, and Clive Hogger joined him as Acting Archdeacon for July and August, then remained Acting Archdeacon after Green's retirement.

Sue Field Susan Elizabeth Field (born 10 May 1959) is an English Anglican priest and former Archdeacon Pastor (and Archdeacon of Coventry) in the Diocese of Coventry from 18 March 2018 resigning in January 2023. Field was educated at King Edward VI High ...

was collated Archdeacon Pastor and Archdeacon of Coventry on 18 March 2018; Barry Dugmore was collated Archdeacon Missioner and Archdeacon of Warwick on 6 October 2019.

List of churches

References

Church of England Statistics 2002

External links

{{authority control Christian organizations established in 1918

Coventry