Bishop of Ramsbury’s Farewell
The Bishop of Ramsbury, Stephen Conway, gave a blessing in his final service as a Bishop in the Diocese of Salisbury at Salisbury Cathedral on Sunday, 5 December.
Bishop Conway gives his final blessing
Evensong was preceded by a farewell presentation to the Bishop, led by the Bishop of Sherborne Dr Graham Kings, the Dean of Salisbury June Osborne, and Lady Sarah Gooch. Representatives of all parts of the Diocese of Salisbury from Wiltshire and Dorset were present.
Bishop Conway, 52, is now Bishop of Ely, a Church of England Diocese covering Cambridgeshire and parts of Norfolk, Essex and Bedfordshire.
Bishop Conway was Bishop of Ramsbury for 4 years and responsible for the Wiltshire area of the Diocese of Salisbury. He led the Diocese since the retirement of Dr David Stancliffe in July.
The Bishop will move to Ely from his home in Winterbourne Earls in late January, and will be installed as Bishop in Ely Cathedral on Saturday 5 March.
From 6 December, until the arrival of a new Bishop of Salisbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury has asked Bishop Christopher Herbert, a recently retired Bishop of St Albans, to lead the Diocese. Dr Graham Kings, Bishop of Sherborne, will undertake the bulk of bishops’ duties.
Bishop Conway said, “I am grateful to God for all the love and shared passion for mission and ministry I have met every day in Wiltshire and Dorset. I shall carry this joyfully into my new ministry in East Anglia.”
The Bishop of Sherborne, Dr Graham Kings, added, “Stephen's joy in God's good news radiates from him, and his love for all of God's people is profound. He has enriched the whole Diocese of Salisbury: we shall miss him, but send him on to the Diocese of Ely as a missionary in the far frozen east!”
[Ends]
Further information please contact:
The Revd Jonathan Ball, Chaplain to the Bishop of Salisbury
Telephone: 01722 334031/07787 75856
bishops.chaplain@salisbury.anglican.org
Notes for Editors
On Sunday 5 December the Bishop will lead services at Little Bedwyn (9.30am) and East Grafton (11am) in north Wiltshire, before returning to Salisbury for his farewell service.
Bio:
Bishop Conway grew up in south London, and studied modern history at Oxford University. He trained as a teacher and taught at Glenalmond College in Perthshire, where his height of nearly 6’6” came in handy for coaching the basketball team.
He went on to train for the ordained ministry in the Church of England at Westcott House Cambridge, gaining a degree in Theology from Cambridge University. He was taught by the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
Ordained in 1986, he served as curate in the north east parishes of Heworth and Bishopwearmouth in the Diocese of Durham. He became Diocesan Directors of Ordinands in 1990 assisting any who were exploring the possibility of ordination. He became Vicar of Cockerton in 1996.
In 1998 Bishop Conway was appointed Senior Chaplain to the Bishop of Durham and Diocesan Communications Officer before becoming Archdeacon of Durham and Canon Treasurer of Durham Cathedral in 2002.
He was chosen to be Bishop of Ramsbury in the Diocese of Salisbury in 2006.
The Bishop has a passionate interest in mental health and is chair of trustees of a mental health charity. He has been a key member of the Wiltshire Assembly, a forum where county organisations meet twice yearly to plan projects and make decisions together for the good of the county. He has also liaised with the large military community in the Diocese.
His interests include travel and travel literature, and reading theology, history, biography and thrillers. He enjoys the cinema, and watching rugby and cricket.
Document Actions