Thank you, Bishop Pete… Thank you for your welcome this morning.
That generous Yorkshire warmth has been something I’ve been looking forward to—and it’s good to finally be here among you.
I was interviewed for the post of Bishop of Doncaster, and then took a phone call from Bishop Pete inviting me to accept the post, on the 25th March – the Feast of the Annunciation: the day the angel told Mary she would be having a baby. If I’m honest, the last ten weeks has had a bit of a feel of the early weeks of a pregnancy, the time between the day you get a positive test and the moment you’re ready to tell the world. The last few weeks in particular have felt a bit like that awkward period when it’s getting hard to hide the emerging bump, and I’ve been hoping nothing I said or did would give it away!
Today, I can rejoice publicly and share my joy at being nominated as the Bishop of Doncaster. Though I was born in Lincolnshire, Yorkshire is where much of my Christian life has been formed. This is where I first heard the call to be a disciple of Jesus. It’s where that call developed into a call to ordination. It’s where I studied music, served in parish and cathedral. And in 2023, during a short visit with Bishop Sophie and the team, something in me shifted. I remember a long delay at Doncaster Station—and I just didn’t want to leave. I knew then that God was doing something new, though I had no idea then that that would mean he was calling me to serve as a Bishop in this Diocese!
Now I return with gratitude and with a clear sense of call: to plant roots, to listen deeply, and to serve among you in this next chapter of what God is doing across South Yorkshire and the East Riding. I am deeply aware that I am entering part-way into an unfolding story of mission and ministry in this place. So let me begin by honouring Bishop Sophie. Her ministry here has been wise, courageous, and full of grace. I know many of you have been deeply impacted by her leadership, and I give thanks for her. I also give thanks for the strong and faithful team I’m joining under Bishop Pete’s leadership and for the clergy and lay people of this diocese, across diverse contexts, who are making visible the love of God in Jesus week by week. I’m excited to learn from you and walk alongside you as we seek God’s purposes together.
I didn’t grow up going to church. I came to faith as an adult, thanks to seeds sown in my childhood at a small estate church that didn’t have much in the way of resources or polish, but where people shared Jesus with warmth, hospitality, and integrity. That simple faith, lived out with conviction, changed everything for me and prepared me to respond joyfully to an invitation to church some 10 years later. This is why I begin this day in Wheatley Park—because places like this shaped me. This is where I met Jesus. This is where I found hope. And that’s why I care so deeply about ministry that’s rooted in local communities and in specific contexts: an estate, a village, a suburb, a city, a university campus, a hospital or a school corridor.
God’s story comes alive when it’s told in the language of local life, when it meets people where they really are. I want to lead a Church that empowers every follower of Jesus—lay and ordained—to take their place in that story, using their gifts and rooted in their communities.
That means working together across the whole body of Christ. The Diocese of Sheffield holds a rich diversity of worship and theology. That’s not a problem to solve—it’s a strength to celebrate. I’ve never fitted neatly into a single tradition myself, as an Anglo-Catholic I have been hugely enriched by charismatic renewal and have learned to encounter God outside of my own traditions and expectations. The Church, in all its variety, reflects the vastness of God. I want to be a bishop who holds space for that breadth (and not least for those who disagree with me)—who can be a bridge across traditions, always putting what unites us over what divides us. Above all, we are united in our baptism—a shared identity in Christ that transcends our differences. We belong to one another because we belong to Him. By baptism we are part of the same Body, called into the same mission.
As someone who once stood on the outside of faith, unsure if I had a place, I carry a commitment to leading a Church that listens – especially to those who aren’t sure they belong. Because when we listen, we find Christ there ahead of us.
Throughout my ministry, I’ve found Jesus already present in the lives of people who’ve been pushed to the edge—those living in poverty, those whose voices have gone unheard, those the Church hasn’t always seen. Justice is not an optional extra for the Church; it’s at the heart of the gospel. I’m convinced we need to be a Church that has listening as a spiritual discipline. I want to listen to civic leaders, to the poor, to young people. I want to hear the wisdom that grows out of struggle, and the hope that persists even in hard places. That’s where the Holy Spirit of God so often moves.
*experience of civic and cathedral life in the north. Working in partnership, creativity of the public sphere – explore faith and justice. Power privilege and platform.
I’ve always been drawn to walk alongside the people we easily overlook—ordinary, “unlikely” people. People who’ve been told they’re not the right kind of people because of race, class, sexuality, disability or age. And yet they’re exactly the people God so often chooses. I’ve seen them become leaders, ministers, preachers, prophets. Part of my call as bishop will be to keep creating space for them. And I want this diocese to be a place where those people hear the invitation clearly: You are called. You belong. There’s a place for you in this story.
So, that’s what I bring: a heart shaped by the Jesus who came to share our life. A belief in justice that flows from the gospel. And a deep love for the Church across its diversity. I come not with all the answers, but with open hands and a listening heart, ready to walk this journey with you.
I can’t wait to hear your stories, to learn from your communities, and to discover together what God is growing here, in this good and holy place.
Please pray for me—pray that I stay close to Jesus, attentive to the Spirit, and faithful to God’s call. And please know that I am praying for you.
Diocesan Vision Prayer
Living God, Jesus calls his followers to seek first your Kingdom.
Renew us as we make your love known;
Release us to share freely together in mission;
and Rejuvenate us to be fruitful in your service.
Give us courage, wisdom and compassion,
that strengthened with the grace of the Holy Spirit,
we may, as the Diocese of Sheffield, both flourish and grow
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.