John Martin Wharton, (born 6 August 1944) 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 ...

bishop, a retired Bishop of Newcastle.

Early life and education

Wharton was born in

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it lies a few miles south of the Lake District Lake District National Park, National Park and j ...

, Lancashire, the son of John Wharton and Marjorie Skinner. He was educated at Ulverston Grammar School and Van Mildert College, Durham where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in economics, politics and sociology in 1969. He was further educated at

Linacre College, Oxford Linacre College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college was founded in 1962 and is named after Thomas Linacre (1460–1524), founder of the Royal College of Ph ...

, where he received a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a two- to five-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically (but not exclusively) pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, de ...

(BTh) and an Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) in 1971, as well as at Ripon Hall, Oxford.

Career

Ordained ministry

Wharton was curate of St Peter's Church, Spring Hill, Birmingham, from 1972 to 1975 and of St John the Baptist, Croydon (now Croydon Minster), from 1975 to 1977. Between 1977 and 1983 he was Director of Pastoral Studies at

Ripon College Cuddesdon Ripon College Cuddesdon (RCC) is a Church of England seminary, theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local orda ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He was additionally a curate of the Church of All Saints, Cuddesdon from 1979 to 1983. Between 1983 and 1992 he was the Director of Ministry and Training in the

Diocese of Bradford The Diocese of Bradford is a former Church of England diocese within the Province of York. The diocese covered the area of the City of Bradford, Craven district, the former Sedbergh Rural District now in Cumbria and the parts of the Lancashi ...

and a residentiary canon of

Bradford Cathedral Bradford Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, one of three co-equal cathedrals in the Diocese of Leeds alongside Ripon and Wakefield. Its site has been used for Christ ...

. In 1992, Wharton was consecrated a bishop by

George Carey George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton (born 13 November 1935) is a retired Anglican bishop who was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, having previously been the Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his time as archbishop the C ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, at

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 ...

on 3 November 1992, to become

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames; he held that post until 1997, when he was appointed the 11th Bishop of Newcastle.

Other work

Wharton is a trustee of St Hilda's Trust, of the Northumbria Historic Churches Trust and The Hild Bede Trust. He is also trustee of the Shepherds Law Hermitage Trust and the Newcastle Diocesan Society. He served for ten years as Chair of Governors of

St Chad's College St Chad's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. Founded in 1904 as St Chad's Hall for the training of Church of England clergy, the college ceased theological training in ...

, Durham. The college made him an honorary fellow in 2010.

Views

On 11 February 2017, Wharton was one of fourteen retired bishops to sign an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

to the then-serving bishops of the Church of England. In an unprecedented move, they expressed their opposition to the House of Bishops' report to

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

on sexuality, which recommended no change to the Church's canons or practises around sexuality. By 13 February, a serving bishop ( Alan Wilson,

Bishop of Buckingham The Bishop of Buckingham is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the historic county town of Buckingham; ...

) and nine further retired bishops had added their signatures; on 15 February, the report was rejected by synod.

Personal life

Since 1970, he has been married to Marlene Olive Duckett. They have one daughter and two sons. Wharton was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the Church of England and to the community in the North East.

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 ...

'' Martin Wharton (1972–1983) * ''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 ...

Martin Wharton (1983–1992)The Independent — Church appointments, 11 July 1992
/ref> * ''

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 ...

'' Martin Wharton (1992—2011) * ''The Right Reverend'' Martin Wharton (2011–present)

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Martin 1944 births Alumni of Van Mildert College, Durham Bishops of Newcastle 20th-century Church of England bishops 21st-century Church of England bishops Living people People from Ulverston Alumni of Linacre College, Oxford People educated at Ulverston Grammar School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire