New bishops and archdeacon installed at St Paul’s Cathedral

Three new bishops and a new archdeacon for London were commissioned and installed at a service in St Paul’s Cathedral.

During Choral Evensong the Bishop of London, commissioned the Rt Revd Ric Thorpe as the Bishop of Islington; the Rt Revd Graham Tomlin as the Bishop of Kensington; the Rt Revd Robert Wickham as the Bishop of Edmonton and the Ven John Hawkins as the Archdeacon of Hampstead.

As part of the service of welcome, the Bishop read the Deeds of Commission to the three new bishops and archdeacon and prayed for them before presenting them to the Dean of St Paul’s, the Very Revd Dr David Ison, who formally installed them into their respective stalls in the Cathedral’s Quire as members of the College of Canons.

Following the installations, The Bishop of London said:

“After a period of transition it is very encouraging to see the new team taking shape. Today we formally welcome Graham, Rob, Ric and John. Each of them already brings their own invaluable experience of this Diocese and the remarkably diverse communities that we serve. Together we will be focused on our Capital Vision 2020, the strategic framework for building a church that is Confident, Compassionate and Creative as we share the love of Jesus Christ with our great City.”

The three new bishops took up their positions last month, after their consecration by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby. John Hawkins is the first of four new archdeacons and three others, already in waiting, will be licensed in the New Year to bring the London team up to full strength.

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