Bishop Graham to step down this Summer

The Bishop of Kensington, the Rt Revd Dr Graham Tomlin, will step down this Summer to lead the Centre for Cultural Witness, a new project to underpin the Church’s proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ in contemporary culture, with the aim to transform the public narrative and imagination about Christian faith. The Centre will be based at the Lambeth Palace site – for more details, see here.

Bishop Graham has been Bishop of Kensington since 2015, during which time he has supported communities in West London following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, and served as Vice Chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Housing, Church and Community.

Prior to joining the London College of Bishops, Bishop Graham served as Principal of St Mellitus College, a partnership between the dioceses of London and Chelmsford and Holy Trinity Brompton, since its launch in 2007. This was after helping launch its predecessor, St Paul’s Theological Centre, in 2005. He has served as President of the St Mellitus College since 2015.

He is also a well-known author and theologian, tutoring in historical theology and evangelism at Wycliffe Hall, where he eventually became Vice-Principal. He was for several years a member of the Faculty of Theology of Oxford University, teaching on the Reformation and contemporary mission and culture, before moving to London in 2005 to launch what became St Mellitus College.

The Bishop of Kensington, the Rt Revd Dr Graham Tomlin, said:

“It has been a huge privilege to serve as the Bishop of Kensington over these past years. I have had the joy of working with a wonderful group of clergy and lay people, who have borne witness to Christ during difficult times in ways that have constantly inspired and encouraged me. It will be a wrench to leave the Area and the wider London diocese, but I do feel the urgency and am excited by this call to engage with the Church’s public witness in a more focussed way in the years to come.”

The Bishop of London, the Rt Hon and Rt Revd Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, said:

“Graham’s contribution to the Kensington Area, to the Diocese more widely, but also to London and beyond is immeasurable. He will be missed as Bishop of Kensington by so many, but he will continue to contribute at the very heart of the Church in leading the new Centre for Cultural Witness.”

Bishop Graham will continue to fulfill his duties in the Kensington Area and with the London College of Bishops until August 2022, when he will step down to lead the Centre for Cultural Witness full time. Before he departs, he will once again be supporting the fifth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June this year.

A consultation to help guide the appointment to the Suffragan See of Kensington will be announced shortly.