An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.
In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops. Historically, non-retired bishops have been appointed to be assistant bishops – however, unlike a diocesan or suffragan they do not hold a see: they are not the "Bishop of Somewhere". Some honorary assistant bishops are bishops who have resigned their see and returned to a priestly ministry (vicar, rector, canon, archdeacon, dean etc.) in an English diocese. A recent example of this is Jonathan Frost, Dean of York, who was also an honorary assistant bishop of the Diocese of York, with membership of the diocesan House of Bishops [1] (i.e. sits and votes with the archbishop and bishops suffragan in Diocesan Synod).
From the mid-19th to the mid-to-late 20th centuries, with the population growth of England, diocesan bishops sought out various levels of episcopal assistance. Suffragan bishops had been legally possible but never appointed for over two hundred years, and there were many ecclesiological, pragmatic and theological objections to their use. So Ordinaries took to appointing Englishmen who had been consecrated bishops for the colonies as stipendiary assistant (or coadjutor — without right of succession) bishops in their diocese, often with another post such as an especially notable (or lucrative) living. As this practice increased, it drew heavy criticism for depriving those colonies of 'their' bishop. The trends of 'returning' bishops slowly faded with the resumption of old and erection of new suffragan sees, which started in 1870 with Dover and Nottingham and continued steadily till Brixworth in 1989. These bishops were titled quite inconsistently, and referred to as assistant bishops, coadjutor bishops, and even as suffragan bishops; the most stable forms were "Assistant Bishop of {Diocese}" and "Bishop {Surname}". [2]
From 1987 until 2016, there were two successions of assistant bishops who were active rather than retired: the Assistant Bishop of Newcastle and the Assistant Bishop of Leicester. In practice, they acted almost exactly like a suffragan bishop (those dioceses had none), whereas they were actually stipendiary assistant bishops. Following the passage of the Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure 2014 by General Synod, further appointment to these roles was made untenable. Therefore, when their incumbents retired in 2016 and 2017 respectively, they were replaced with suffragan bishops: the Bishop of Berwick (a see abeyant since the 16th century) for the Diocese of Newcastle, and the Bishop of Loughborough (a newly erected see) for the Diocese of Leicester.
In the Anglican Church of Australia, the appointments of assistant bishops have been made in accordance with the Assistant Bishops' Canon since 1966. [3] In the Australian dioceses, these assistant bishops function similarly to suffragan bishops in England (the Australian church has no suffragans per se). According to the 1966 canon, while the term coadjutor bishop may be used for an assistant bishop, no bishop may have the right or expectation to succeed to a diocesan see.
In the US-based Episcopal Church, both the titles assistant bishop and assisting bishop are used. Both are appointed by the diocesan bishop and must have been previously consecrated as bishop for another position. The appointments are only valid during the term of the diocesan who makes the appointment. Assistant bishops are usually full time and assisting bishops serve on a more limited part-time or short-term basis. The title visiting bishop is used in some diocese for assisting bishops. In the 19th century, the title assistant bishop was used for bishops coadjutor. [4] [5]
In 2022, the bishops of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine appointed each other as assisting bishops in their dioceses to foster regional cooperation. [6]
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor is a bishop himself, although he is also appointed as vicar general. The coadjutor bishop is, however, given authority beyond that ordinarily given to the vicar general, making him co-head of the diocese in all but ceremonial precedence. In modern times, the coadjutor automatically succeeds the diocesan bishop upon the latter's retirement, removal, or death.
The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England.
The Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe, known simply as the Diocese in Europe, is a diocese of the Church of England. It was originally formed in 1842 as the Diocese of Gibraltar. It is geographically the largest diocese of the Church of England and the largest diocese in the Anglican Communion, covering some one-sixth of the Earth's landmass. Its jurisdiction includes all of Europe, Morocco, Mongolia and the territory of the former Soviet Union.
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 women bishops or priests". The system by which such bishops oversee certain churches is referred to as alternative episcopal oversight (AEO).
In the Anglican Communion, the model of government is the 'Bishop in Synod', meaning that a diocese is governed by a bishop acting with the advice and consent of representatives of the clergy and laity of the diocese. In much of the Communion the body by which this representation is achieved is called the diocesan synod.
The Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada of the Anglican Church of Canada. It encompasses the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and has two cathedrals: All Saints' in Halifax and St. Peter's in Charlottetown. Its de facto see city is Halifax, and its roughly 24 400 Anglicans distributed in 239 congregations are served by approximately 153 clergy and 330 lay readers according to the last available data. According to the 2001 census, 120,315 Nova Scotians identified themselves as Anglicans, while 6525 Prince Edward Islanders did the same.
The Diocese of Liverpool is a Church of England diocese based in Liverpool, covering Merseyside north of the River Mersey, part of West Lancashire, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester, Widnes and part of Warrington and in Cheshire. The cathedral is Liverpool Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Liverpool. The diocese was formed on 9 April 1880 from part of the Diocese of Chester.
The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. "Ministry" commonly refers to the office of ordained clergy: the threefold order of bishops, priests and deacons. More accurately, Anglican ministry includes many laypeople who devote themselves to the ministry of the church, either individually or in lower/assisting offices such as lector, acolyte, sub-deacon, Eucharistic minister, cantor, musicians, parish secretary or assistant, warden, vestry member, etc. Ultimately, all baptized members of the church are considered to partake in the ministry of the Body of Christ.
The Episcopal Church of Cuba is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States. The diocese consists of the entire country of Cuba. From 1966 to 2020, it was an extra-provincial diocese under the Archbishop of Canterbury. As of 2021, it had nearly 1,600 members and an average worship attendance of more than 600 in forty-four parishes, including the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Havana.
The Diocese of Huron is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese comprises just over 31,000 square kilometres in southwestern Ontario, sandwiched between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Its See city is London, and its parish rolls of 50,000 are served by 177 congregations.
The Bishop of Berwick is an episcopal title used by the suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Newcastle in the Province of York, England.
The ordination of women in the Anglican Communion has been increasingly common in certain provinces since the 1970s. Several provinces, however, and certain dioceses within otherwise ordaining provinces, continue to ordain only men. Disputes over the ordination of women have contributed to the establishment and growth of progressive tendencies, such as the Anglican realignment and Continuing Anglican movements.
The Bishop of Loughborough is an episcopal title used by the sole suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Leicester in the Province of Canterbury, England.
The Anglican Diocese of Leeds is a diocese of the Church of England, in the Province of York. It is the largest diocese in England by area, comprising much of western Yorkshire: almost the whole of West Yorkshire, the western part of North Yorkshire, the town of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, and most of the parts of County Durham, Cumbria and Lancashire which lie within the historic boundaries of Yorkshire. It includes the cities of Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield and Ripon. It was created on 20 April 2014 following a review of the dioceses in Yorkshire and the dissolution of the dioceses of Bradford, Ripon and Leeds, and Wakefield.
Christopher John Boyle is a retired Anglican bishop. He was Bishop of Northern Malawi in the Church of the Province of Central Africa (2001–2009) and the last Assistant Bishop of Leicester in the Church of England (2009–2017).
Peter Burrows is a British retired Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Doncaster — the sole suffragan bishop in the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield — from 2012 until his 2019 retirement; from July 2016 until June 2017, he was also the acting Bishop of Sheffield.
The Bishop of Leicester was a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Peterborough in the Province of Canterbury.
Gulnar Eleanor "Guli" Francis-Dehqani is an Iranian-born British Anglican bishop who has been Bishop of Chelmsford since 2021. She previously served as the first Bishop of Loughborough, the sole suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Leicester from 2017 to 2021.
