Gordon Keith Sinclair (born 3 December 1952) is a British

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

retired bishop. From 2007 until 2021, he served as the Bishop of Birkenhead, one of two

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led b ...

s in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

Early life and education

Sinclair was born on 3 December 1952 to Donald and Joyce Sinclair. He was educated at Trinity School, an all-boys

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, London. He studied at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree; as per tradition, his BA was later promoted to an Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree. He then worked as a solicitor. Sinclair entered

Cranmer Hall, Durham Cranmer Hall is a Church of England theological college based at Durham, England. Cranmer Hall forms part of St John's College, Durham which is a recognised college of Durham University. It stands in the Open Evangelical Churchmanship, tradition. ...

, an

Evangelical Anglican Evangelical Anglicanism or Evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

, to train for the ministry. During this time he studied theology and graduated with BA degree from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in 1984.

Ordained ministry

Sinclair was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in the

: made a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

Petertide Petertide (also known as St Peter's Tide) refers to the Sunday nearest to St Peter's Day on 29 June and to the period around that day. In Anglicanism, Petertide is one of two major traditional periods for the ordination of new priests (the other ...

1984 (1 July) and ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

the Petertide following (30 June 1985) – both times by

Hugh Montefiore Hugh William Montefiore (born Hugh William Sebag-Montefiore; 12 May 1920 – 13 May 2005) was an English Anglican bishop and academic, who served as Bishop of Kingston from 1970 to 1978 and Bishop of Birmingham from 1978 to 1987. Early life and ...

Bishop of Birmingham The Bishop of Birmingham heads the Church of England Diocese of Birmingham, in the Province of Canterbury, in England. The diocese covers the North West of the historical county of Warwickshire and has its see in the City of Birmingham, Wes ...

, at Birmingham Cathedral. From 1984 to 1988, he served his

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

at Christ Church, Summerfield in the Diocese of Birmingham. He was additionally a part-time chaplain at the Birmingham Children's Hospital. Then, from 1988 to 2001, he was

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of the

Church of SS Peter & Paul, Aston The Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul () in Witton Lane, Aston, Birmingham, England, is a parish church in the Church of England. Background The origin of Aston and its parish church is uncertain. A 2013 archaeological excavation on the s ...

. He was also the area dean of Aston and an

honorary canon Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

of Birmingham Cathedral between 2000 and 2001. He moved to the

Diocese of Coventry The Diocese of Coventry is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Coventry, who sits at Coventry Cathedral in Coventry, and is assisted by one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Warwick. The dioce ...

, and served as vicar of

Holy Trinity Church, Coventry Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, is a parish church of the Church of England in Coventry, West Midlands, England. Above the chancel arch is an impressive doom wall-painting. History The church dates from the 12th century and is the only medi ...

from 2001 to 2007.

Episcopal ministry

Sinclair was consecrated a bishop on 8 March 2007 by

John Sentamu John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu, Baron Sentamu, (; ; born 10 June 1949) is a retired Anglican bishop and life peer. He was Archbishop of York and Primate of England from 2005 to 2020. In retirement he was subject to investigation over his handl ...

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

, at

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

. From then until retirement, he served as the Bishop of Birkenhead, one of two

s in the

. He retired as bishop effective 8 March 2021, the 14th anniversary of his consecration. Since 27 April 2021, he has served as National Director of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC). He has been 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 ...

in the Diocese of Manchester since shortly after retiring as Bishop of Birkenhead.

Beliefs

Sinclair is on the council of reference of the

True Freedom Trust True Freedom Trust (TFT) is a "UK-based teaching and pastoral support ministry that holds to the orthodox biblical view of sex, gender and relationships". It takes the view that homosexual activity is sinful, but being homosexual is not sinful in an ...

. Its vision is to uphold traditional biblical teaching on sexual relationships and gender and to do so with "understanding and compassion, so that Christians who struggle with same-sex attractions or gender identity gain increasing acceptance, wholeness and maturity in faith within their local church." Sinclair was one of the bishops selected to be a member of the Church of England working group on human sexuality which in 2013 produced the Pilling Report. The report acknowledges the complexity of the issue stating: "This report cannot attempt a definitive account of the debate about the meaning of Scripture, even if such an enterprise were conceivable." Two essays are appended to the Report: One, by Sinclair, epitomises a conservative understanding of the biblical texts; the other by David Runcorn argues a scriptural case for a more inclusive ethic. The report, by way of explanation for the essays, states: "We include these two contributions, not because they sum up the whole range of scriptural scholarship on this subject — they emphatically do not — but because they epitomise the way in which study of the same sources can lead to very different conclusions." He is a member of the Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) for the Province of York. In July 2024, he was commissioned by the Church of England Evangelical Council as an "overseer" to provided alternative spiritual oversight (not to be confused with the Church of England's official

alternative episcopal oversight 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 w ...

) to evangelical clergy and parishes in the Church of England who maintain traditional teaching on the doctrine of marriage and sexual ethics, following the General Synod's support for the introduction of a service of blessing for same sex couples.

Personal life

Sinclair has been marriedOfficial notification of appointment
/ref>London Gazette Notice of Appointment
/ref> since 1989 and they have three children. He is a keen walker and his brother is the actor Malcolm Sinclair.

Styles

*''

The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

'' Keith Sinclair (1984–2000; 2001–2007) *The Reverend ''

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

'' Keith Sinclair (2000–2001) *''

The Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated as The Rt Revd or The Rt Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian ministers and members of clergy. It is a variant of the more common st ...

'' Keith Sinclair (2007–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Keith 1952 births Living people 20th-century Church of England bishops 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century Church of England bishops 21st-century evangelicals Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham Bishops of Birkenhead British evangelicals Evangelical Anglican bishops