Bishop of Stepney

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]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference crockfords948 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "New Bishop of Stepney announced". 7 May 2019.
  3. ^ "New Bishop of Stepney announced | Diocese of London". London.anglican.org. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  4. ^ "New Bishop of Stepney consecrated at St Paul's | Diocese of London". London.anglican.org. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Church news". Church Times. No. 1681. 11 April 1895. p. 418. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 19 September 2020 – via UK Press Online archives.
  6. ^ "London diocesan conference". Church Times. No. 1840. 29 April 1898. p. 468. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 19 September 2020 – via UK Press Online archives.
  7. ^ "Virtual autonomy for London's 'area bishops'?". Church Times. No. 5584. 20 February 1970. p. 1. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 29 September 2020 – via UK Press Online archives.
  8. ^ "4: The Dioceses Commission, 1978–2002" (PDF). Church of England. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.