Michael Charles Scott-Joynt (15 March 1943 – 27 September 2014) was an English bishop and a

Prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. The most senior order of knighthood in the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British honours system, it is outranked in ...

. He was appointed

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

, one of the five senior

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

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, ...

, in 1995. He had previously served as Bishop of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

in the

Diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

from 1987 and before that as a

canon residentiary 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 ...

St Albans Cathedral St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, also known as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Normans, Norman times. It ceased to be an abb ...

. On 10 October 2010, it was announced that Scott-Joynt intended to retire, which he did in May 2011.Diocese of Winchester — Bishop Michael announces retirement in May 2011

Education and career

Scott-Joynt was educated at

Bradfield College Bradfield College is a coeducational public school (independent boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18, in the village of Bradfield, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It is noted for its open-air Greek theatre and its trien ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

(BA 1965, MA 1968) and Cuddesdon Theological College. He was ordained as 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 ...

in 1967 and

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 ...

in 1968. He was a curate at Church of All Saints, Cuddesdon (1967–70) and a tutor at Cuddesdon College (1967–71); he then served as Chaplain of Cuddesdon (1971–72). He was Team Vicar of Newbury (1972–75); priest-in-charge at Caversfield (1975–79);

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of Oxfordshire, England, north-west of Oxford. The town is a notable tourist attraction due to the Bicester Village shopping centre. The historical town centre � ...

(1975–79); and

Bucknell, Oxfordshire Bucknell is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish northwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 260. Manor After the Norman Conquest of England, ...

(1976–79). He was rector of the Bicester Area Team Ministry (1979–81);

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Bicester and

Islip Islip may refer to: Places England * Islip, Northamptonshire *Islip, Oxfordshire * Islip Manor Meadows United States *Islip, New York, a town in Suffolk County ** Islip (hamlet), New York, located in the above town **Central Islip, New York ...

(1976–81); a residential canon of St Albans Cathedral (1982–87); and Director of Ordinands and In-Service Training in the

Diocese of St Albans The Diocese of St Albans forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England and is part of the wider Church of England, in turn part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese is home to more than 1.6 million people and comprises the hi ...

(1982–87). He was the

suffragan 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 ...

Bishop of Stafford The Bishop of Stafford is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stafford, the county town of Staffordshire. The Bishop o ...

(1987–1995,

area bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the Metropolitan ...

1992–1995) before being appointed as Bishop of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

in 1995, retiring in 2011. He was consecrated a bishop on 22 July 1987, by

Robert Runcie Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely ...

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 ...

. He married Louise White in 1965 and they had two sons and one daughter. On 27 September 2014, he died at the age of 71. She died in .

Opinions

He attracted note for some of his more outspoken opinions. His

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

of 2001 was titled "This Terror Is a Judgment upon Us". In it, he called the

11 September 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

"cruelly evil as they were" a judgment upon the developed nations' promotion of their own standard of living at the expense of the global poor, and condemned the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

policies of the Western nations. He was also one of 52 UK bishops who signed a letter in 2003 calling for reform of arms export laws. He chaired a

committee in 2000, which urged a lifting of the ban on remarriage of divorcees whose former spouse was still living. The report insisted that the Church of England was not abandoning its position that marriage is for life, but rather acknowledging the situation of many within society whose former marriages had long ceased to have any real existence. However, he insisted at the time that this would not necessarily open the way for

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

to marry

Camilla Parker Bowles Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East Sussex and South Kensington in E ...

. In the event, the

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

of Prince Charles and Parker Bowles took the form of a

civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Countries maintaining a popul ...

which was immediately followed by a service of blessing in

St George's Chapel, Windsor St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal Peculiar (a church und ...

. In 2003, he was (unexpectedly at the time) signatory to an open letter from 17 Church of England bishops opposing the nomination of Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest in a long-term relationship, as suffragan bishop-designate of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. The other nine diocesan bishop signatories were: Michael Langrish (

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

), Michael Nazir-Ali ( Rochester), Peter Forster (

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

), James Jones (

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

), George Cassidy ( Southwell & Nottingham), Graham Dow (

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

), John Hind (

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

) and David James (

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

). Scott-Joynt was one of the Church of England's most prominent supporters of traditional sexual morality, for example voting against the

Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 was secondary legislation in the United Kingdom, outlawing discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services, education and public functions on the grounds of sexual orientation ...

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 ...

because there was no provision for religious conscience. He also argued that the introduction of

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

legislation in the UK threatened the uniqueness of marriage and declared he would closely question clergy in his diocese who entered a civil partnership.Bishop Michael's Speeches: The coming into effect of the Civil Partnerships Act 2 December 2005—A Statement by the Bishop of Winchester
. Retrieved 2008-05-07 In 2008, he said, in relation to the exclusion of Christians in same-sex relationships from positions of leadership (such as bishoprics like his own): "I see no future for the Anglican Communion as we know it, or for the Church of England as we know it, if either deserts this teaching."

Styles

*Michael Scott-Joynt Esq (1943–1967) *The Revd Michael Scott-Joynt (1967–1982) *The Revd Canon Michael Scott-Joynt (1982–1987) *The Rt Revd Michael Scott-Joynt (1987—2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott-Joynt, Michael 1943 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Church of England bishops Bishops of Winchester Bishops of Stafford 21st-century Church of England bishops Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon People educated at Bradfield College