Dear sisters and brothers in Christ
Today Downing Street has announced that Bishop Ruth Worsley, currently Bishop of Taunton will act as interim Bishop of Liverpool. You can read the press notice on our website and in the Bulletin,
Ruth will be taking up her post with us as soon as feasible and we will have an installation service in the next few weeks. We will be letting you know when we have firmed up the date.
Bishop Ruth has been invited to this role by the Archbishop of York as an ideal person to lead our diocese for a period oftwo years by which time we expect the formal crown nominations commission process to have taken place to appoint a permanent Bishop of Liverpool.
In order to facilitate this according to the legal processes of the Church of England the Archbishop proposed a scheme to temporarily revive the dormant see of Wigan. Bishop Ruth will be able to act in certain respects immediately, but as soon as possible will be translated to the see of Wigan. A formal delegation of the authority of the Bishop of Liverpool will be made. This will enable Bishop Ruth to perform all the legal functions of the Bishop of Liverpool for this interim period.
We are extremely grateful to the Archbishop of York for pursuing an option to enable the episcopal office of the Bishop of Liverpool to function in this interim period. We give thanks to God for Bishop Ruth’s willingness to step forward and offer ministry here with us. Bishop Ruth comes to us having had experience as interim Bishop of Coventry which will be invaluable for us. We are also very thankful for the diocese of Bath and Wells as they release Ruth to serve God’s call in our diocese.
Bishop Bev remains as Bishop of Warrington but as she reflects on her future is not currently ministering in our diocese and is supportive of these arrangements. The Archbishop continues to give her space to decide her future ministry and when she is ready to announce her decision we will let people know.
We understand that many of you will have questions and we are happy to try and answer those that we can.
We thank you for your support and prayer over this time. We continue to pray for Bishop Bev, Bishop John and all those affected by recent events. We hope that this will be an important step forward for our diocese and look forward to Bishop Ruth joining us as we continue to pursue God’s mission.
We invite you to pray
Loving Father,
by your grace,
we long to see more people knowing Jesus,
and more justice in your world.
Help us to live as your disciples
in the power of the Spirit
and to work to your praise and glory.
Amen.
Debra Walker, Chair of the House of Laity
Peter Dawkin, Chair of the House of Clergy
Sue Jones, Dean of Liverpool
Pete Spiers, Archdeacon of Knowsley & Sefton
Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, Archdeacon of Liverpool
Simon Fisher, Archdeacon of St Helens and Warrington
