Rob Munro | |
---|---|
Bishop of Ebbsfleet | |
Church | Church of England |
Diocese | Diocese of Canterbury |
In office | 2023–present |
Predecessor | Rod Thomas (as Bishop of Maidstone, PEV for conservative evangelicals) Jonathan Goodall (as Bishop of Ebbsfleet) |
Other post(s) | Rector, St. Mary's Cheadle (2003–2022) |
Orders | |
Ordination | 1994 (priest) |
Consecration | 2 February 2023 by Justin Welby |
Personal details | |
Born | Robert Speight Munro 1963 (age 59–60) |
Nationality | British |
Denomination | Anglicanism |
Spouse | Sarah |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater | University of Bristol University of Manchester Oak Hill Theological College Reformed Theological Seminary |
Robert Speight Munro (born 1963) is a Church of England bishop. Since 2023, he has been Bishop of Ebbsfleet, the second provincial episcopal visitor for conservative evangelical members and parishes of the church.
Munro was born in 1963 [1] in Manchester, England. [2] He was raised as an atheist [3] and converted to Christianity through the youth ministry of St. Mary's Cheadle. Munro received a degree in maths at the University of Bristol. After university, he moved to London to study in the ministry training scheme at All Souls Langham Place, then known as All Souls College of Applied Theology. While at All Souls, Munro taught part-time at All Souls School. He returned to Manchester for teacher training at the University of Manchester and taught maths and physical education in Hazel Grove. [2]
After a call to ordained ministry, Munro trained at Oak Hill Theological College and was ordained a priest in 1994. He later received a doctorate from Reformed Theological Seminary in the United States. [2]
Munro first served at St John's Church, Hartford, in the Diocese of Chester. In 1997, he became rector of St Wilfrid's Church, Davenham, and in 2003 he returned to St. Mary's Cheadle with St. Cuthbert's as rector. [4] In addition to his service in parish ministry, Munro held several positions in church leadership, including: chairman of the House of Clergy in the Diocese of Chester; an elected member of the Church of England's General Synod from 2005 to 2022; a member of the Dioceses’ Commission; rural dean for Cheadle; [4] and a council member of the Latimer Trust, the Church of England Evangelical Council [2] and Church Society. [4] As a leader of the Fellowship of Word and Spirit (FWS), Munro supported the 2018 merger of FWS and Reform into Church Society to unite English evangelicals. [5]
In September 2022, Munro was announced as the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet, taking over the portfolio of alternative episcopal oversight held by retired Bishop of Maidstone Rod Thomas. [2] On 2 February 2023, Munro was consecrated a bishop by Justin Welby at Canterbury Cathedral during the same service as Jane Mainwaring and Martin Gainsborough. In deference to Munro's complementarian convictions, the women bishops present refrained from the laying on of hands for Munro, [6] and Welby was only assisted by two other male bishops as co-consecrators (Mark Tanner, Bishop of Chester, and Jonathan Gibbs, Bishop of Rochester). [7]
At the time of Munro's consecration, nearly 150 parishes had passed resolutions requesting extended episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Maidstone or his successor and there are 90 in which +Rob serves with EEO. [4]
Munro came into office as the General Synod was discussing Anglican bishops' approval (through the Living in Love and Faith process) of same-sex blessings in the Church of England and revisiting the restrictions imposed on gay clergy in same-sex marriages or civil partnerships. [8] Munro commented that the General Synod debate:
"could threaten to break our unity on the doctrine of marriage, redefine our sanctity with respect to holiness and sexual activity, undermine our catholicity having little obvious regard for the wider Anglican Communion or beyond, and jeopardis[e] our apostolicity with respect to the clear teaching of Scripture. [...] Our received doctrine of marriage, in accordance with Scripture, is that '[...] the union of one man and one woman marriage is in its nature a union permanent and lifelong, for better for worse, till death them do part, of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of all others on either side" (Canon B30), and that includes understanding that 'sexual intercourse, as an expression of faithful intimacy, properly belongs within marriage exclusively' (1999 House of Bishops teaching document Marriage: A Teaching Document). Any move away from this understanding will have serious consequences for our Anglican communion and our mission. It is a serious concern that some recent public pronouncements appear to be at variance with this." [7]
Munro is married to Sarah; they have three adult children. [2]
The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarised in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571). The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, recognised as primus inter pares, but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England. Most, but not all, member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches.
The Church of England is the established Christian church in England. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain by the 3rd century and to the 6th-century Gregorian mission to Kent led by Augustine of Canterbury. Its adherents are called Anglicans.
Since the 1990s, the Anglican Communion has struggled with controversy regarding homosexuality in the church. In 1998, the 13th Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops passed a resolution "rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with Scripture". However, this is not legally binding. "Like all Lambeth Conference resolutions, it is not legally binding on all provinces of the Communion, including the Church of England, though it commends an essential and persuasive view of the attitude of the Communion." "Anglican national churches in Brazil, South Africa, South India, New Zealand and Canada have taken steps toward approving and celebrating same-sex relationships amid strong resistance among other national churches within the 80 million-member global body. The Episcopal Church in the U.S. has allowed same-sex marriage since 2015, and the Scottish Episcopal Church has allowed same-sex marriage since 2017." "Church of England clergy have appeared to signal support for gay marriage after they rejected a bishops' report which said that only a man and woman could marry in church." At General Synod in 2019, the Church of England announced that same-gender couples may remain recognised as married after one spouse experiences a gender transition. In 2023, the Church of England announced that it would authorise "prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and for God's blessing for same-sex couples."
The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England.
The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are located in South Africa, and one each in Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Saint Helena. In South Africa, there are between 3 and 4 million Anglicans out of an estimated population of 45 million.
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).
Oak Hill College is a conservative evangelical theological college located on Chase Side in Southgate, London, England. Its aim is to prepare men and women from the Church of England and Independent churches for ministry in the real world.
The Bishop of Maidstone is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the county town of Maidstone in Kent.
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet is a suffragan bishop who fulfils the role of a provincial episcopal visitor in the Church of England. From its creation in 1994 to 2022, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet served conservative Anglo-Catholic parishes that reject the ordination of women as priests and bishops. From 2023, the bishop will serve conservative evangelical parishes that reject the ordination and/or leadership of women due to complementarian beliefs.
The Anglican realignment is a movement among some Anglicans to align themselves under new or alternative oversight within or outside the Anglican Communion. This movement is primarily active in parts of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada. Two of the major events that contributed to the movement were the 2002 decision of the Diocese of New Westminster in Canada to authorise a rite of blessing for same-sex unions, and the nomination of two openly gay priests in 2003 to become bishops. Jeffrey John, an openly gay priest with a long-time partner, was appointed to be the next Bishop of Reading in the Church of England and the General Convention of the Episcopal Church ratified the election of Gene Robinson, an openly gay non-celibate man, as Bishop of New Hampshire. Jeffrey John ultimately declined the appointment due to pressure.
The Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA), formerly known as Global South (Anglican), is a communion of 25 Anglican churches, of which 22 are provinces of the Anglican Communion, plus the Anglican Church in North America and the Anglican Church in Brazil. The Anglican Diocese of Sydney is also officially listed as a member.
St Mary's Church in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England, is a Grade I listed building. It is an Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Cheadle. Its benefice is united with that of St Cuthbert.
Jonathan Mark Richard Baker is a bishop of the Church of England. He is currently the suffragan Bishop of Fulham and was formerly the Bishop of Ebbsfleet.
Jonathan Michael Goodall is a British Roman Catholic priest and a former Church of England bishop. From 2013 to 2021, he was Bishop of Ebbsfleet, a suffragan bishop who is the provincial episcopal visitor in the western half of the Province of Canterbury for those "within the spectrum of Anglican teaching and tradition" who are "unable to receive the ministry of women as bishops or priests". He was ordained a Catholic priest on 12 March 2022.
Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, activism, biblicism and crucicentrism" identified by historian David Bebbington as central to evangelical identity. The emergence of evangelical churchmanship can be traced back to the First Great Awakening in America and the Evangelical Revival in Britain in the 18th century. In the 20th century, prominent figures have included John Stott and J. I. Packer.
Roderick Charles Howell Thomas is a retired Church of England bishop. He was the Bishop of Maidstone, a provincial episcopal visitor for conservative evangelical members and parishes of the church, from 2015 until his retirement in 2022.
The Bishop of Oswestry is a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Lichfield who fulfils the role of a provincial episcopal visitor in the Church of England.
Anne Catherine Dyer is a British Anglican bishop, previously a rector and an academic administrator.
Jillian Louise Calland Duff is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2018, she has been the Bishop of Lancaster, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Blackburn. Previously, she had been Director of St Mellitus College, North West, an Anglican theological college, from 2013 to 2018. Before ordination, she studied chemistry at university and worked in the oil industry. After ordination in the Church of England, she served in the Diocese of Liverpool in parish ministry, chaplaincy, and church planting.
The Anglican Network in Europe (ANiE) is a small Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition with churches in Europe. Formed as part of the worldwide Anglican realignment, it is a member jurisdiction of the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON) and is under the primatial oversight of the chairman of the GAFCON Primates Council. GAFCON recognizes ANiE as a "proto-province" operating separately from the Church of England, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church in Wales and other Anglican Communion jurisdictions in Great Britain and the European continent. ANiE is the body hierarchically above the preexisting Anglican Mission in England; the former is the equivalent of a province whilst the latter is a convocation, the equivalent of a diocese.