Published on: 21/06/2026
It has been announced that Fr Stephen Edmonds, Acting Archdeacon of Doncaster, is to be the next Archdeacon of Auckland in the Diocese of Durham.
Fr Stephen, who also currently serves as Associate Archdeacon Transition Enabler for Doncaster and West Doncaster, is expected to start his new role later this Summer.
Having been born in the North West, Stephen grew up in Nottinghamshire, and first experienced the joy of the North East when he came as an undergraduate to study Theology at Durham. He then worked in housing, firstly for the Northern Housing Consortium in Sunderland, and latterly for Darlington Borough Council as Housing Strategy Manager.
Having met and married Rachel, who studied music and now works for the Racial Justice Officer in the Diocese of Sheffield, they settled in Darlington, where their daughter, Sarah, and son, Samuel, were born. No longer able to resist the call to ordained ministry he had felt since his early teens, Stephen was eventually selected and trained for the priesthood at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield.
Stephen and the family moved to Sunderland for a curacy at S Ignatius the Martyr, Hendon, under the expert guidance of Fr Andrew Collins Jones CMP, and then moved to serve the post-industrial communities of Edlington and Hexthorpe in Doncaster in 2012. Having served just shy of 10 years there, Stephen responded to the invitation of the Bishop of Sheffield to become an Associate Archdeacon Transition Enabler for the Deaneries of Doncaster and West Doncaster, supporting the SDF-funded Transformation Project. He has served these past months as Acting Archdeacon of Doncaster.
Fr Stephen Edmonds said:
‘It has been a huge privilege to serve the Diocese of Sheffield for over 14 years, and the deep roots put down professionally and personally will make parting extremely painful. I have been shaped by the people, communities and colleagues I have served amongst, and journeying through strategy development and implementation that is demonstrably bearing fruit has been a joy. I will forever be grateful for the support and encouragement I have received from sisters and brothers across the Diocese, and I hope that God will enable me to sustain these life-giving relationships for what now lies ahead.
‘Durham is the cradle of formation for me as a husband, father and a priest, and the call back to a place I would call my adopted home has been impossible to resist, at this exciting moment of strategic development in the Diocese. I am profoundly moved to be invited by Bishop Rick to take up the baton from him as Archdeacon of Auckland and pray for the grace I will desperately need to fulfil all that God has in store in this new role.’
The Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, said:
‘I am absolutely delighted that Fr Stephen is to be the next Archdeacon of Auckland in the Diocese of Durham. He will be a superb addition to Bishop Rick’s senior team and will quickly be taken to the hearts of the people of the Archdeaconry and Diocese. Stephen has been a great asset to this Diocese, as a parish priest and as Associate Archdeacon Transition Enabler (and most recently as Acting Archdeacon). We will miss his wit and wisdom, his devotion to the Lord and his capacity to form relationships of trust and affection across theological difference.’
