The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. [1] The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The post is held by Joanne Grenfell [2] whose consecration as bishop, and start of her tenure as Bishop of Stepney, was on 3 July 2019 at St Paul's Cathedral; [3] the principal consecrator was Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. [4]
The first bishop was appointed to take responsibility for North and East London, which had been under the care of the Bishop of Bedford; the new See was erected because the retiring bishop Robert Billing retained the See of Bedford, and Stepney was a more obvious See for the suffragan for the East End. [5] In 1898, the new Bishop of Islington received responsibility for North London. [6] In the experimental area scheme of 1970, the bishop was given oversight of the deaneries of Tower Hamlets, Hackney, and Islington. [7] The Bishops suffragan of Stepney have been area bishops since the London area scheme was founded in 1979. [8]
Bishops of Stepney | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
From | Until | Incumbent | Notes | |
1895 | 1897 | ![]() | George Forrest Browne | (1833–1930). Translated to Bristol |
1897 | 1901 [9] | ![]() | Arthur Winnington-Ingram | (1858–1946). Translated to London |
1901 [9] | 1909 | ![]() | Cosmo Gordon Lang | (1864–1945). Translated to York, and later to Canterbury |
1909 | 1919 | ![]() | Luke Paget | (1853–1937). Formerly Bishop of Ipswich. Translated to Chester |
1919 | 1928 | ![]() | Henry Mosley | (1868–1948). Translated to Southwell |
1928 | 1936 | ![]() | Charles Curzon | (1878–1954). Translated to Exeter |
1936 | 1952 | ![]() | Robert Moberly | (1884–1978) |
1952 | 1957 | Joost de Blank | (1908–1968) | |
1957 | 1968 | Evered Lunt | (1900–1982) | |
1968 | 1978 | Trevor Huddleston | (1913–1998). Translated to Mauritius | |
1978 | 1991 | Jim Thompson | (1936–2003). First area bishop from 1979; translated to Bath and Wells | |
1992 | 1995 | ![]() | Richard Chartres | (b. 1947). Consecrated on 22 May 1992. Translated to London in 1995 |
1996 | 2002 | ![]() | John Sentamu | (b. 1949). Translated to Birmingham, and later to York |
2003 | 2010 | Stephen Oliver | (b. 1948) Retired 6 July 2010 | |
2010 | 2011 | ![]() | Pete Broadbent Bishop of Willesden | Acted as Bishop of Stepney from 7 July 2010, [10] [11] effectively suspended from 23 November 2010 to 10 January 2011, [11] resumed as Acting Bishop until 22 July 2011. |
2011 | 2018 | Adrian Newman [12] [13] | (b. 1958) Resigned on 31 October 2018 on health grounds. [14] | |
2018 | 2019 | ![]() | Pete Broadbent, Bishop of Willesden | Acting as Bishop of Stepney from 31 October 2018 until Grenfell's consecration. [14] |
2019 | 2025 | Joanne Grenfell | Since 3 July 2019 consecration; [2] to be translated to St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, "autumn" 2025. [15] | |
Source(s): [1] |