The Bishop of Ebbsfleet is a suffragan bishop who fulfils the role of a provincial episcopal visitor in the Church of England.[1] From its creation in 1994 to 2022, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet served traditionalist Anglo-Catholic parishes that reject the ordination of women as priests and bishops. Since 2023, the bishop has served conservative evangelical parishes that reject the ordination and/or leadership of women due to complementarian beliefs.

Traditionalist catholic bishop

The see was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council dated 8 February 1994[2] and licensed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a "flying bishop" to provide episcopal oversight for parishes throughout the province which do not accept the sacramental ministry of bishops who have participated in the ordination of women. The position is named after Ebbsfleet in Thanet, Kent. In the southern province, the bishops of Ebbsfleet and of Richborough each ministered in 13 of the 40 dioceses; the Bishop of Ebbsfleet served the western 13 dioceses: Bath and Wells, Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Derby, Exeter, Gloucester, Hereford, Lichfield, Oxford, Salisbury, Truro and Worcester.[3] Until the creation of the suffragan See of Richborough in 1995, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet served the entire area of the Province of Canterbury with the exceptions of the dioceses of London, Rochester and Southwark which came under the oversight of the Bishop of Fulham.

Jonathan Goodall was announced as the fifth Bishop of Ebbsfleet on 2 August 2013.[4] His episcopal consecration took place on 25 September 2013 at Westminster Abbey. He had been the chaplain and ecumenical secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the fourth of the five bishops to be affiliated with the Society of the Holy Cross. On 3 September 2021 he resigned his episcopacy in order to be received into the Roman Catholic Church.[5]

Conservative evangelical bishop

In June 2022, it was announced that, from January 2023, oversight of traditionalist Anglo-Catholics in the west of Canterbury province (formerly the Bishop of Ebbsfleet's area) would be taken by a new Bishop of Oswestry, suffragan to the Bishop of Lichfield. Oversight of conservative evangelicals would be taken by the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet; the See of Maidstone (the original conservative evangelical flying bishop) would be left vacant, available for other uses.[6] As such, from 2023, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet will provide alternative episcopal oversight to parishes who have passed resolutions that reject the ordination and/or leadership of women due to complementarian beliefs.[7] On 9 December 2022 the appointment was announced of Rob Munro as the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet[8][9] and he was consecrated bishop on 2 February 2023.[10]

List of bishops

Bishops of Ebbsfleet (Traditionalist Anglo-Catholics)
From Until Incumbent Notes
29 April 199431 October 1998John RichardsRetired; died November 2003
December 199818 December 1999Michael Houghton SSCDied in office
30 November 200031 December 2010Andrew Burnham SSCResigned to become a Roman Catholic[11]
16 June 201113 February 2013Jonathan Baker SSCTranslated to Fulham
25 September 2013
8 September 2021Jonathan Goodall SSCResigned to become a Roman Catholic[12]
8 September 20212023vacant
Bishops of Ebbsfleet (Conservative Evangelicals)
2023presentRob Munro[10]
Source(s):[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Crockford's Clerical Directory (100th ed.). London: Church House Publishing. 2007. p. 946. ISBN 978-0-7151-1030-0.
  2. ↑ "No. 53585". The London Gazette. 11 February 1994. p. 2143.
  3. ↑ See of Ebbsflett
  4. ↑ "Suffragan See of Ebbsfleet: nomination of Reverend Canon Jonathan Goodall approved". gov.uk. 2 August 2013. Archived from the original on 12 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Anglican bishop to step down, join Catholic Church". cruxnow.com. 15 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "Bishops of Maidstone, Ebbsfleet and Oswestry". Diocese of Canterbury. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  7. ↑ Thornton, Ed (1 July 2022). "Ebbsfleet to be complementarian Evangelical: new Bishop of Oswestry to serve traditional Catholics". Church Times. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Rob Munro named as the new Bishop of Ebbsfleet". Bishop of Ebbsfleet. 9 December 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "No. 63943". The London Gazette. 20 January 2023. p. 934.
  10. 1 2 "(Order of Service) Eucharist with the Ordination and Consecration..." (PDF). Canterbury Cathedral. 2 February 2023. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  11. ↑ The Resignation of Bishop Andrew Archived 7 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. 24 November 2010.
  12. ↑ "Bishop of Ebbsfleet to step down to seek full communion with the Roman Catholic Church". The Archbishop of Canterbury. 3 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.


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