The Bishop of Southwark ( ) is the ordinary of 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 Southwark The Diocese of Southwark ( ) is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient ...

in the

Province of Canterbury The Province of Canterbury, or less formally the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces which constitute the Church of England. The other is the Province of York (which consists of 12 dioceses). Overview The Province consi ...

.Diocese of Southwark: History
. Retrieved on 21 October 2013.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . Until 1877, Southwark had been part of the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 660 AD, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered the Kingdom of Wessex, many times its present size. Today it is most of th ...

when it was transferred to the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal si ...

. In 1891, the

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

appointed

Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Huyshe Wolcott Yeatman-Biggs (2 February 184514 April 1922; until 1898 known as Huyshe Wolcott Yeatman) was an influential Church of England clergyman who served as the only Anglican Bishop of Southwark, Bishop of Southwark to be a suffragan bis ...

the only

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 ...

of Southwark and an ancient parish church in Southwark was restored to become a

pro-cathedral A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish Church (building), church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefect ...

in 1897, which later became

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ), formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, is a Church of England cathedral in Southwark, London, near the south bank of the River Thames and close to London Bridge. It is the mother c ...

. The bishop's residence is Bishop's House,

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

. On 1 May 1905, the

was created and covers

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

south of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

and east

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, broadly defined. The Bishop of Southwark is assisted by the suffragan bishops of Croydon, of Kingston and of Woolwich who each oversee an

episcopal area An episcopal area in certain Methodist denominations, such as the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (AMEZC) and United Methodist Church (UMC), is a basic unit of this denomination. It is a region presided over by a resident bishop that is ...

of the diocese. The current and previous bishops have been cited in canonical practice in its interpretation as "

valid but irregular Valid but irregular is a term used in Christian Church, Christian churches which have a concept of Holy Orders, such as the Anglican churches, to sacramental actions by someone who is able, due to their already being ordained to the appropriate ord ...

" of three ordinations of candidates ordained abroad, associated with a conservative evangelical church-forming group, the Anglican Mission in England, having expressed, in the church's view, extreme views on a complex subject. The current bishop is

Christopher Chessun Christopher Thomas James Chessun (born 5 August 1956) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2011, he has been Bishop of Southwark in the Church of England. Early life and education Chessun is a twin and was born on 5 August 1956. He was educated ...

, the 10th Bishop of Southwark, who signs ''+Christopher Southwark''. He had previously been the area

Bishop of Woolwich The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Woolwich, a suburb of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Two o ...

(2005–2011). When the post-holder ranks among the longest-serving 21 bishops heading a diocese, he or she will qualify for a place in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

, joining the other five who qualify ''

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, or council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by r ...

'', including the two archbishops.

List of bishops

Assistant bishops

Among those who have served as

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 bishop, suffragan) bishops – in ...

s in the diocese have been: *1964–1968: Gething Caulton, former Bishop of Melanesia and Assistant Bishop of Auckland *1968–1972 (d.): John Boys, former

Bishop of Kimberley and Kuruman The Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and encompasses the area around Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley and Kuruman and overlaps the Northern Cape Province and North West Province (South A ...

*19671971 (ret.): Lawrence Barham, Minister of Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon and former Bishop of Rwanda and Burundi. Edward Lawrence Barham (25 June 19015 June 1973) was a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

and

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a geopolitical entity, once part of German East Africa, that was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under milit ...

. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' and

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

; and trained for the ministry at

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and members ...

. He was made deacon on Trinity Sunday 1925 (7 June) and ordained priest the following Trinity Sunday (30 May 1926) — both times by

Cyril Garbett Cyril Forster Garbett (6 February 1875 – 31 December 1955) was an Anglican bishop and author. He was successively Bishop of Southwark (1919–32), Bishop of Winchester (1932–42) and Archbishop of York (1942–55). Early life Garbett was ...

, Bishop of Southwark, at

. After his curacy in

Hatcham Hatcham was a manor and later a chapelry in what is now London, England. It largely corresponds to the area around New Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham. The ancient parish of Deptford straddled the counties of Surrey and Kent and ther ...

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government A ...

(1925–28), he went as a missionary of the

Church Mission Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

, first to Uganda until 1938, then to Ruanda-Urundi, 1938–57. He was additionally made a Canon of the Diocese of Uganda, 1939; and appointed Archdeacon of Nkore-Kigezi (in the same diocese), 1957–59. Returning to England, he served as General Secretary of the CMS Ruanda Mission until his appointment as Bishop of Rwanda and Burundi in 1964. He was consecrated a bishop on 8 March 1964, by Leslie Brown,

Archbishop of Uganda The Anglican ecclesiastical province of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi was formed in 1961 following the division of the diocese of Uganda the previous year. In 1960, the Diocese of Uganda was separated and in 1961 the smaller dioceses made a separate ...

and Bishop of Namirembe, at

Namirembe Cathedral Saint Paul's Cathedral Namirembe, commonly and locally (Uganda) referred to as 'Namirembe Cathedral'', is the oldest Anglican cathedral in Uganda. It serves as the provincial cathedral of the Anglican Church of Uganda and the diocesan cathedral f ...

; and served until 1966, when he resigned and returned to London in 1966. *19741975: Br John-Charles SSF, former Assistant Bishop of Adelaide and Bishop of Polynesia *19751987 (ret.): Edward Knapp-Fisher,

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 ...

and Archdeacon of Westminster, Sub-

Dean of Westminster The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the abbey's status as a royal peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterb ...

(from 1982) and former

Bishop of Pretoria A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

References

External links

Crockford's Clerical Directory - Listings
{{Anglican Bishops & Archbishops - Great Britain

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

Bishops of Southwark