bishop of Maidstone
{{Short description|Alternative conservative episcopal church oversight}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
The Bishop of Maidstone is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the county town of Maidstone in Kent.
Canterbury suffragan
Until 2009, the suffragan Bishop of Maidstone had a similar, though subordinate, role to that of the Bishop of Dover: to assist the diocesan bishop (the Archbishop of Canterbury) in the episcopal leadership of the Diocese of Canterbury. It was decided at the diocesan synod of November 2010 that a new bishop would not be appointed; rather the Archdeaconry of Ashford was erected.[http://www.canterburydiocese.org/diocesansynodnews/index.htm Canterbury Diocese — Synod News] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615003605/http://www.canterburydiocese.org/diocesansynodnews/index.htm |date=2011-06-15 }}
"Headship" bishop
On 4 December 2014, it was announced that the see of Maidstone would be filled again in order to provide alternative episcopal oversight for particular members of the Church of England who take a conservative evangelical view on male "headship".[http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/006797.html Thinking Anglicans – Appointment of a bishop who takes a conservative evangelical view on headship] (Accessed 4 December 2014) On 23 September 2015, Rod Thomas was consecrated Bishop of Maidstone.[http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5545/suffragan-bishop-of-maidstone-announced Lambeth Palace – Suffragan Bishop of Maidstone announced] (Accessed 5 May 2015)
In June 2022, it was announced that, from January 2023, oversight of conservative Anglo-Catholics in the west of the Province of Canterbury (formerly the Bishop of Ebbsfleet's area) would be taken by a new Bishop of Oswestry, suffragan to the Bishop of Lichfield; while oversight of conservative Evangelicals would be taken by the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet; the See of Maidstone would be left vacant, available for other uses.{{cite web |website=Diocese of Canterbury |title=Bishops of Maidstone, Ebbsfleet and Oswestry |url=https://canterburydiocese.org/our-life/news-events/news/bishops-of-maidstone-ebbsfleet-and-oswestry.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707135916/https://canterburydiocese.org/our-life/news-events/news/bishops-of-maidstone-ebbsfleet-and-oswestry.php |archive-date=7 July 2022 |access-date=3 August 2022 }}
==List of bishops==
| class="wikitable" style="width:95%;" border="1" cellpadding="2"
! colspan="4" style="background-color: #7F1734; color: white;"|Bishops of Maidstone | |||
| valign=top
! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|From ! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|Until ! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="30%"|Incumbent ! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="45%"|Notes | |||
| valign=top bgcolor="white"
|align="center"| 1944 | align="center"| 1946 | Leslie Owen | Translated to Lincoln |
| valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"
|align="center"| 1946 | align="center"| 1956 | colspan="2"| no appointment | |
| valign=top bgcolor="white"
|align="center"| 1956 | align="center"| 1966 | Stanley Betts | |
| valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"
|align="center"| 1966 | align="center"| 1969 | colspan="2"| no appointment | |
| valign=top bgcolor="white"
|align="center"| 1969 | align="center"| 1976 | Geoffrey Tiarks | |
| valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"
|align="center"| 1976 | align="center"| 1980 | Richard Third | Translated to Dover |
| valign=top bgcolor="white"
|align="center"| 1980 | align="center"| 1987 | Robert Hardy | Translated to Lincoln |
| valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"
|align="center"| 1987 | align="center"| 1992 | David Smith | Translated to Bradford |
| valign=top bgcolor="white"
|align="center"| 1992 | align="center"| 2001 | Gavin Reid[http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page2861.asp Succession details] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817073050/http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page2861.asp |date=2007-08-17 }} | |
| valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"
|align="center"| 2001 | align="center"| 2009 | Graham Cray | |
| valign=top bgcolor="white"
|align="center"| 2009 | align="center"| 2015 | vacant | |
| valign=top
! colspan="4" style="background-color: #7F1734; color: white;"|Bishops of Maidstone (AEO) | |||
| valign=top
! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|From ! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="10%"|Until ! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="30%"|Incumbent ! style="background-color:#D4B1BB" width="45%"|Notes | |||
| valign=top bgcolor="#F7F0F2"
|align="center"| 2015 | align="center"| 2022 | Rod Thomas | Retired 2 October 2022.{{cite web|url=https://bishopofmaidstone.org/|title=Bishop of Maidstone to retire in October 2022|website=The Bishop of Maidstone|date=7 January 2022|access-date=18 July 2021|archive-date=15 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115162116/https://bishopofmaidstone.org/|url-status=live}} |
| valign=top bgcolor="white"
|align="center" colspan="4"| Source(s):{{cite book |title=Crockford's Clerical Directory |edition=100th |location=London |publisher=Church House Publishing |year=2007 |page=947 |isbn=978-0-7151-1030-0}} |
See also
{{Portal|Christianity}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.crockford.org.uk/section.asp?id=9 Crockford's Clerical Directory - Listings]
{{Clear}}
{{Bishops of Maidstone}}
{{Bishops suffragan in the Church of England}}
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