I am still collecting my thoughts about the appointment, which, I must admit, left me kind of gobsmacked. Not because Christopher is unfit to be Bishop of Southwark, because he is eminently fit. It is out of the ordinary for a suffragan bishop to be appointed Bishop of the Diocese in which he was suffragan, at least in the Church of England. Other clergy in the diocese have remarked that they thought he might get Truro (before that was filled). So appointing him to Southwark was an unexpected pleasure.
Read on at Chris' blog, and forgive my previous silliness.
That's an extremely interesting and informative post. The more I read about this man, the more I like what I hear.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, too, that in the C of E diocesan bishops usually come from outside. I suspect that would change if dioceses began electing their own bishops. Here in Canada it's much more common to have people from inside the diocese elected, for the simple reason that people know them.
Tim, absolutely. Chris' post is excellent.
ReplyDeleteSometimes our bishops are chosen from within the diocese and other times from outside. There are pros and cons for both choices. Local priests were candidates for our election, but the vote went to a priest from another diocese.