Appointment of Church of England bishops
Encyclopedia
The appointment of Church of England
diocesan bishop
s follows a somewhat convoluted process, reflecting the church's traditional tendency towards compromise and ad hoc solutions, traditional ambiguity between hierarchy and democracy, and traditional role as a semi-autonomous state church. (Suffragan bishop
s are appointed through a much simpler process, reflecting their status as directly responsible to their diocesan bishop.)
bishopric vacant, the process of replacing him involves several stages. The first of these involves the diocesan Vacancy-in-See Committee, composed of:
The committee produces a Statement of Needs assessing the needs of the diocese. It then sends this statement to the Crown Nominations Commission (known until 2003 as the "Crown Appointments Commission"), which consists of:
Beyond these fourteen voting members, the Prime Minister
's appointments secretary and the Archbishops' appointments secretary meet with the commission and help supply it with information on possible candidates. Normally the archbishop in whose province the vacancy lies chairs the commission.
When meeting to nominate an archbishop, the commission is chaired by a fifteenth voting member, who must be an "actual communicant lay member of the Church of England". He or she is appointed by the prime minister
(if an Archbishop of Canterbury is being appointed) or by the Church of England Appointments Committee (if an Archbishop of York).
The commission meets several times in secret. The commission then forwards two names to the prime minister
, who chooses one of them, or (exceptionally) requests additional names from the commission. In recent memory, the only prime minister who has not accepted the commission's preferred candidate was Margaret Thatcher
, who opposed James Lawton Thompson's nomination as Bishop of Birmingham, due to his (perceived) liberal and left-leaning views. If the chosen individual accepts the office, the prime minister advises the Sovereign, who then formally nominates the prime minister's choice. Thereafter, the diocese's College of Canons meets to 'elect' the new bishop. (This stage of the process was mocked by Ralph Waldo Emerson
thus: "The King sends the Dean and Canons a congé d'élire
, or leave to elect, but also sends them the name of the person whom they are to elect. They go into the Cathedral, chant and pray; and after these invocations invariably find that the dictates of the Holy Ghost agree with the recommendation of the King" [Emerson, English Traits, XIII, 1856].)
Following the election, the new bishop must be confirmed in office. A provincial ceremony takes place where the bishop-elect swears an oath. During the ceremony, the appropriate archbishop confers the spiritualities
of the see on the bishop-elect, who then takes office. At a later point, the monarch confers the temporalities
of the see, which formerly included vast church estates and the bishop's residence, but which have now become more limited. If the bishop has never previously received consecration
as a bishop, he must be consecrated; both the confirmation of election and episcopal consecration (if any) generally take place to suit the archbishop's convenience, that is to say in York Minster
for a bishop of the northern province, or, for a bishop of the southern province, in Canterbury Cathedral
or one of the great churches or cathedrals in London
(such as St Paul's
or Southwark Cathedral
, or Westminster Abbey
).
Finally, a symbolic ceremony of installation or enthronement
takes place in the bishop's new cathedral
, during which he is welcomed by his new diocese and first sits in his cathedra.
, Gordon Brown
released a green paper
outlining several proposed reforms of the Prime Minister's ability to exercise traditional Royal Prerogative
powers. Among these were several which could affect Church of England appointments, including those of diocesan bishops. The proposed scheme would see (in future) a single name emerge from the Crown Nominations Commission, rather than two, which the Prime Minister would simply pass along to the Queen. Furthermore, the role of the Prime Minister's appointments secretary would be reduced or even eliminated.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
diocesan bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s follows a somewhat convoluted process, reflecting the church's traditional tendency towards compromise and ad hoc solutions, traditional ambiguity between hierarchy and democracy, and traditional role as a semi-autonomous state church. (Suffragan bishop
Suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...
s are appointed through a much simpler process, reflecting their status as directly responsible to their diocesan bishop.)
Current procedures
Since 1976, when a bishop dies, retires or moves on and leaves a diocesanDiocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
bishopric vacant, the process of replacing him involves several stages. The first of these involves the diocesan Vacancy-in-See Committee, composed of:
- The deanDean (religion)A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of the diocese's cathedralCathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop... - Two archdeaconArchdeaconAn archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
s - The diocese's representative members of the General Synod of the Church of EnglandGeneral Synod of the Church of EnglandThe General Synod is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s.- Church Assembly: 1919...
- Members of the diocesan House of Bishops
- The chairman and two other members of the diocesan House of Clergy
- The chairman and two other members of the diocesan House of Laity
- Other members approved by the Bishop's Council
The committee produces a Statement of Needs assessing the needs of the diocese. It then sends this statement to the Crown Nominations Commission (known until 2003 as the "Crown Appointments Commission"), which consists of:
- The Archbishops of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
and YorkArchbishop of YorkThe Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
(in the event of a vacancy in either post, then the House of Bishops elects another bishop to take that Archbishop's place) - Three members elected by the General Synod's House of Clergy from within itself
- Three members elected by the General Synod's House of Laity from itself
- Six members elected ad hoc by the Vacancy-in-See Committee from itself
Beyond these fourteen voting members, the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
's appointments secretary and the Archbishops' appointments secretary meet with the commission and help supply it with information on possible candidates. Normally the archbishop in whose province the vacancy lies chairs the commission.
When meeting to nominate an archbishop, the commission is chaired by a fifteenth voting member, who must be an "actual communicant lay member of the Church of England". He or she is appointed by the prime minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
(if an Archbishop of Canterbury is being appointed) or by the Church of England Appointments Committee (if an Archbishop of York).
The commission meets several times in secret. The commission then forwards two names to the prime minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, who chooses one of them, or (exceptionally) requests additional names from the commission. In recent memory, the only prime minister who has not accepted the commission's preferred candidate was Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, who opposed James Lawton Thompson's nomination as Bishop of Birmingham, due to his (perceived) liberal and left-leaning views. If the chosen individual accepts the office, the prime minister advises the Sovereign, who then formally nominates the prime minister's choice. Thereafter, the diocese's College of Canons meets to 'elect' the new bishop. (This stage of the process was mocked by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
thus: "The King sends the Dean and Canons a congé d'élire
Congé d'élire
Congé d'Elire a licence from the Crown in England issued under the great seal to the dean and chapter of the cathedral church of the diocese, authorizing them to elect a bishop or archbishop, as the case may be, upon the vacancy of any episcopal or archi-episcopal see in England.-History and...
, or leave to elect, but also sends them the name of the person whom they are to elect. They go into the Cathedral, chant and pray; and after these invocations invariably find that the dictates of the Holy Ghost agree with the recommendation of the King" [Emerson, English Traits, XIII, 1856].)
Following the election, the new bishop must be confirmed in office. A provincial ceremony takes place where the bishop-elect swears an oath. During the ceremony, the appropriate archbishop confers the spiritualities
Spiritualities
Spiritualities is a term, often used in the Middle Ages, that refers to the income sources of a diocese or other ecclesiastical establishment that came from tithes...
of the see on the bishop-elect, who then takes office. At a later point, the monarch confers the temporalities
Temporalities
Temporalities are the secular properties and possessions of the Christian Church. It is most often used to describe those properties that were used to support a bishop or other religious person or establishment. Its opposite description would be the spiritualities.In the Middle Ages, the...
of the see, which formerly included vast church estates and the bishop's residence, but which have now become more limited. If the bishop has never previously received consecration
Consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
as a bishop, he must be consecrated; both the confirmation of election and episcopal consecration (if any) generally take place to suit the archbishop's convenience, that is to say in York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
for a bishop of the northern province, or, for a bishop of the southern province, in Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
or one of the great churches or cathedrals in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(such as St Paul's
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
or Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral
Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge....
, or Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
).
Finally, a symbolic ceremony of installation or enthronement
Enthronement
An enthronement is a ceremony of inauguration, involving a person—usually a monarch or religious leader—being formally seated for the first time upon their throne. This ritual is generally distinguished from a coronation because there is no crown or other regalia that is physically...
takes place in the bishop's new cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
, during which he is welcomed by his new diocese and first sits in his cathedra.
Future possibilities
In July 2007, shortly after taking office as Prime MinisterPrime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
released a green paper
Green paper
In the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland and the United States a green paper is a tentative government report of a proposal without any commitment to action; the first step in changing the law...
outlining several proposed reforms of the Prime Minister's ability to exercise traditional Royal Prerogative
Royal Prerogative
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege, and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy as belonging to the sovereign alone. It is the means by which some of the executive powers of government, possessed by and...
powers. Among these were several which could affect Church of England appointments, including those of diocesan bishops. The proposed scheme would see (in future) a single name emerge from the Crown Nominations Commission, rather than two, which the Prime Minister would simply pass along to the Queen. Furthermore, the role of the Prime Minister's appointments secretary would be reduced or even eliminated.