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FROM THE BISHOP OF The Rt Revd Dr [email protected]

To all licensed clergy, first church wardens and licensed lay ministers in the Dorchester Archdeaconry

09 July 2020

Dear Colleagues

Appointment to the See of Dorchester

As you will know, Bishop Colin will retire in November having served with great distinction as . We will be doing our best to say thank you and farewell to Bishop Colin in these very strange circumstances, focussing on a final event in on 4th October which we hope will be streamed live to the Diocese.

We received the formal approval in June from the Dioceses Commission to move ahead and appoint the next Bishop of Dorchester. The guidelines on the process followed when appointing Area Bishops is here. We will be following this guidance closely.

Please would you keep this appointment in your prayers in the coming months, both privately and publicly. We are together seeking the person whom God is calling to this vital ministry in the life of the Diocese.

I am in the process of appointing an Advisory Panel. This will include an Area Dean and Lay Chair from the Archdeaconry, wider representatives from the Diocese and an external consultant. I will publish the names of the Advisory Group when the process is complete. The role of the Advisory Group is to share in the process of shortlisting and interview and to advise me on the appointment. I will chair the panel.

I have asked as Archdeacon to liaise with Area Deans and Lay Chairs about appropriate representatives from both groups for the Advisory Panel which I am hoping can be agreed over the next few days.

A process of consultation has now begun. Notices will go on the Diocesan website and in the Church Press this week inviting both comments on possible candidates and the needs of the Diocese and the Archdeaconry.

A great deal of consultation has already taken place led by myself and the area team. However, please see this letter as your invitation to comment further on what is needed or to suggest candidates.

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Please email or write to me in the normal way and indicate if your comments are confidential to me or can be shared at some point with the wider group. The consultation process ends on 31 August 2020.

The Advisory Panel will meet, pray and draw up a short list of candidates for interview. The is also consulted at this point. The proceedings of the Advisory Panel and the names of candidates are of course confidential. We aim to meet with candidates over two days in October. There is then a process of putting the name of the preferred candidate forward for nomination to the Crown through the Prime Minister’s office. There is normally quite a long gap between the interview process and announcement while all of this happens. If all goes well, we should be able to make the name of the candidate known at some point over the Winter months.

It is possible that the person appointed may already be in episcopal orders but if they are not we would be looking towards the consecration of the new Bishop of Dorchester (provisionally) on 28 January (consecration dates are fixed many months in advance). By all means pencil this date into your diary. There will then be a service of welcome into the Diocese in the few weeks following.

Please do hold all of those involved in the appointment in your prayers as we seek the person of God’s calling to be the next Bishop of Dorchester.

With kind regards

Church House Oxford, Langford Locks, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GF Tel: 01865 208222 www.oxford.anglican.org