Bishop's Letter - June 2010
Bishop’s Letter
with Bishop Martin Wharton
A story of two Bishops
I am delighted that Bishop Frank White is to serve as the next Assistant Bishop in the Diocese. Bishop Frank and his wife Alison, who is also ordained, are well known in the north east.
Alison was part of the Springboard Team and she was also a leading speaker at our last clergy conference in Edinburgh. She is a well known leader of retreats and conferences and is a much sought after spiritual director, companion and guide.
For Alison as well as Bishop Frank, their move to the Diocese represents a real home coming. Bishop Frank was brought up in the north east, went to school in Newcastle and after ordination, served all his ministry in the Diocese of Durham, becoming the first Archdeacon of Sunderland in 1997.
In 2002 he was consecrated as Bishop of Brixworth in the Diocese of Peterborough from where he will move to Newcastle later this year. He will share the Episcopal Ministry here and will bring his passion for mission and spirituality to encourage the parishes in our engagement with the Communities God has given us to serve. Throughout his life he has drawn inspiration from the lives of the northern saints.
In his leisure moments Bishop Frank enjoys bird watching, cycling and walking, and he has been a life long supporter of Newcastle United. I am greatly looking forward to working with Bishop Frank as an Episcopal colleague when he begins his ministry here at the end of November. His service of welcome will be held in the Cathedral at 11.00am on Saturday 27th November and I hope you will put that date in your diaries.
As we look forward with eager anticipation to Bishop Frank's arrival, Bishop Tom Wright will shortly leave his Diocese and his home at Auckland Castle for his new appointment as Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews. Bishop Tom has decided to return to the Academic world and he will be greatly missed by the people of the Diocese of Durham as well as more widely by all of us in the north east.
Our two Dioceses have been working more closely together in recent years and we have been able to create a number of joint posts and pieces of work, including for example, in Finance, in Ministerial and Lay Training, and in Education and Schools. None of this would have happened without Bishop Tom's willing encouragement and support.
The Big Read in Lent 2010 was Bishop Tom's inspiration and enabled Christians from the churches in the North-east to read St Luke's gospel together. Next Lent a similar project, based on St Matthew's gospel is planned nationally with the introductory booklet again written by Bishop Tom.
It has become increasingly clear that Bishop Tom's considerable gifts and vocation as a writer, teacher and broadcaster are virtually impossible to combine with the many demands and duties of a Diocesan Bishop. This has led him to take what he describes as "the hardest decision of my life".
I have greatly appreciated and enjoyed cooperating with Bishop Tom over the last seven years. He has become a good colleague and friend to many of us in the Diocese.
We wish him and Maggie well as they prepare for the next phase of their lives. Happily, they will still retain strong connections with Northumberland. Bishop Tom's parents still live and worship in Morpeth and he and Maggie will continue to visit their 'bolt-hole' on the Northumberland coast.
Please pray for Bishop Tom and Maggie as they prepare to leave the Diocese of Durham and pray too, for Bishop Frank and Alison as they get ready to return home to serve with us in Newcastle.