David James Smith is a retired Anglican 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...

 of the Church of England

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...

.

Born on 14 July 1935 and educated at King’s College London, he was ordained in 1959. His first post was as a curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 at All Saints' Gosforth

Gosforth

Gosforth is an area of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, to the north of the city centre. Gosforth constituted an urban district from 1895 to 1974, when it became part of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne. It has a population of 23,620...

, after which he became the Vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 of Monkseaton

Monkseaton

Monkseaton is a village near Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, in the northeast of England. It is in the north-east of the borough, less than a kilometre from the North Sea coast and around 5 km north of the River Tyne at North Shields...

. He was subsequently the Rural Dean

Rural Dean

In the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church, a Rural Dean presides over a Rural Deanery .-Origins and usage:...

 of Tynemouth

Tynemouth

Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...

 and the Archdeacon of Lindisfarne. In 1980 he was ordained to the episcopate as Bishop of Maidstone

Bishop of Maidstone

The Bishop of Maidstone was 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 and had a similar though subordinate role to that of the Bishop of...

 and was translated

Translation (ecclesiastical)

Translation is the technical term when a Bishop is transferred from one diocese to another.This can be* From Suffragan Bishop status to Diocesan Bishop*From Coadjutor bishop to Diocesan Bishop*From one country's Episcopate to another...

 to be the Bishop of Bradford

Bishop of Bradford

The Bishop of Bradford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Bradford, in the Province of YorkThe diocese covers the extreme west of Yorkshire, and has its see in the city of Bradford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter.The Bishop's residence is...

 in 1987. He was a member of the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 from 1997 to 2002. In retirement he continues to serve as an honorary assistant bishop

Assistant Bishop

An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.-Church of England:In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually are retired bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops...

 in the Diocese of York

Diocese of York

The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire....

.