Richard Ian Cheetham (born 18 August 1955) is a retired

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, ...

bishop and former teacher. He served as the

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 The Bishop of Kingston (technically of ''Kingston upon Thames'' or, originally, of ''Kingston-on-Thames'') is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The ti ...

in the

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 ...

, 2002–2022.

Early life

He was educated at

Kingston Grammar School Kingston Grammar School is a private co-educational day school in Kingston upon Thames, England. The school was founded by royal charter in 1561 but can trace its roots back to at least the 13th century.

. He studied physics and philosophy at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree. He remained at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

to study for a

Postgraduate Certificate in Education The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and South Africa -where it can take up to three years- which provides training in order to allow graduate ...

(PGCE). Having qualified, he taught science at a comprehensive school in

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 ...

, from 1978 to 1980. He then moved to

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, Windsor, where he was Assistant Physics Master from 1980 to 1983. After five years teaching, he left the profession to become an

investment analyst A financial analyst is a professional undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job.

Church career

Cheetham left his career and in 1985 began preparation for ordination 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 ...

. Having completed a Certificate in Theology, he was 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 ...

in the

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 ...

(5 July) 1987. The following year, at Petertide (3 July 1988), he was 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 ...

; both times by

Alec Graham Andrew Alexander Kenny Graham (7 August 1929 – 9 May 2021) was an English Anglican bishop. Graham was educated at Tonbridge School and St John's College, Oxford. After studies at Ely Theological College he was ordained in 1956. He was ordain ...

, Bishop of Newcastle. He began his career as

curate 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 as ...

at Holy Cross,

Fenham Fenham is an area of the west-end of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It lies to the west of the city centre, and is bounded on the north and east by a large area of open land known as the Town Moor. To the south ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and from 1990 until 1999 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 St Augustine of Canterbury's Church,

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

and additionally (from 1995)

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 the

. From 1999 to 2002 he was

Archdeacon of St Albans The Archdeacon of St Albans is an ecclesiastical post in the Church of England Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. History Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Henrican reforms of the 16th century, there were Archdeacon ...

. On 17 October 2002, 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 was one (with

David Hamid David Hamid (born 18 June 1955) is a retired Anglican bishop with British and Canadian citizenship. He has been the Suffragan Bishop in Europe since 2002. Early life Hamid was born on 18 June 1955 in Scotland, to Scottish and Burmese parents. He ...

and David Hawkins) of the last three people to be ordained and 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 ...

before his retirement as

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 ...

; Cheetham was then enthroned as

in Southwark Cathedral on 27 October 2002. As the senior

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 ...

in post at the time of Tom Butler's retirement on 5 March 2010, Cheetham served as Acting Bishop of Southwark from then until his fellow suffragan

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 ...

became Bishop of Southwark on 17 January 2011. In 1999, Cheetham completed his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree (PhD) as an external student of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. His thesis was entitled, 'The nature and status of religious belief in contemporary Britain (with particular reference to the concept of 'truth') as reflected by acts of collective worship in a sample of Luton schools since the 1988 Education Reform Act'. A book, ''Collective Worship: issues and opportunities'', followed in 2004. He became an Honorary Research Fellow of King's College London in 2011. Cheetham is also a keen sportsman. Cheetham is Chair of the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education, Anglican President of the Christian Muslim Forum, Patron of the Fircroft Trust, the Curriculum for Cohesion and Kingston Bereavement Service. Until 2012 he was a member of the

Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. The University traces its r ...

Council. He is President of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

London South West who have a large multi-function building in

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

and became Chair of the British Regional Committee of St. George's College, Jerusalem, in May 2013. He announced on 8 February 2022 that he would resign his See and retire effective 17 October 2022, the twentieth anniversary of his consecration. As of 8h March 2023, it has been announced that he will take a position as Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Guildford.

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 ...

'' Richard Cheetham (1987February 1999) *''The

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

'' Richard Cheetham (FebruaryOctober 1999) *''The Venerable''

Doctor Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

Richard Cheetham (October 19992002) *''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 ...

'' Doctor Richard Cheetham (2002–present)

References

External links

Official website

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheetham, Richard 1955 births Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Alumni of King's College London Archdeacons of St Albans Bishops of Kingston Living people People educated at Kingston Grammar School 21st-century Church of England bishops Schoolteachers from Yorkshire YMCA leaders Teachers at Eton College