New Bishop of Chichester has been announced

Downing Street have announced this morning that The Right Reverend Dr Martin Warner, currently Suffragan Bishop of Whitby in the Diocese of York, is to be the next Bishop of Chichester.

Dr Warner, 53, succeeds The Right Reverend John Hind who retired last month.

The Diocese of Chichester was founded in 1070 and essentially covers the area of East and West Sussex and the City of Brighton and Hove reaching a population of over 1.5m.

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The Diocese has more than 500 churches and enjoys overseas links with Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Guinea (West Africa).

Bishop Warner said today: “It is a daunting and exciting challenge to be asked to serve the people of Sussex as the next Bishop of Chichester. I look forward very much to learning more about the mission in which we shall be engaging together, though it will be a big wrench leaving the North East so soon.”

Welcoming the news on behalf of the Diocese of Chichester, The Right Revd Mark Sowerby, The Acting Bishop of Chichester, said: “I am delighted that Dr Martin Warner, whom I have known for many years, is to be the new Bishop of Chichester.

“I believe that he will lead us with the effervescent energy and clarity that has always been distinctive of his ministry and I very much look forward to working alongside him in the service of the Church and people of Sussex.”

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Dr Warner studied at St Chad’s College in Durham before completing his theological training at St Stephen’s House, Oxford. He was ordained deacon (1984) and priest (1985) in Exeter Cathedral whilst working as Curate of St Peter’s Plymouth.

He moved north to the Midlands in 1988 to be Team Vicar for five years in the Parish of the Resurrection, Leicester before being elected to be the Priest Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham between 1993-2002. During his time in Norfolk he was also priest in charge of Hempton and Pudding Norton between 1998-2000. He was appointed Honorary Canon of Norwich between 2000-2002.

Dr Warner was then appointed as a residentiary Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, firstly as Canon Pastor and latterly Treasurer where he made a big contribution particularly with regards to the Cathedral’s connection with the art world (2003-2010).

He was elected as suffragan Bishop of Whitby in the Diocese of York in 2010 and has served the parishes of the Cleveland archdeaconry which includes the contrasting communities of Middlesbrough and much of the North Yorkshire Moors. Dr Warner is a regular contributor to the Church Times and has written five books.

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