Chester Diocese
News Item
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The new Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is to be our Bishop Nigel
THE Rt Revd Nigel Stock is to be the new Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, 10 Downing Street has announced. Nigel Stock, 57, has served as the Bishop of Stockport for the past six years. He said: “I have been privileged to witness so many good things going on in mission in the Diocese of Chester. Part of the joy of a bishop’s ministry is to get to know many different parishes, to learn more of a great variety of ministries and meet so many faithful Christian people. “There will be time to say thank you to everyone in the Diocese of Chester in due course, but I would like to express my gratitude now to the Bishop of Chester for all his trust, support and confidence. “I am immensely looking forward to the challenges ahead. Continuing to share in the Good News of Jesus Christ goes on binding us together. Surrounded by many dark things in the world, I long for the Church to be confident in proclaiming the hope central to the Gospel. “I am very humbled to have been called to serve in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. I am only too conscious that I have much to learn about a diocese that includes some of the most beautiful parts of England. In these very early stages, I would be very grateful for your prayers for all that lies ahead.” Born and raised in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bishop Nigel has had a varied church career spanning 22 years in parish ministry, including five in Papua New Guinea. He is a supporter of the work of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution which aids members of the farming community in need. The Bishop of Chester, the Rt Revd Dr Peter Forster, said: “Nigel Stock has been a highly able and impressive Bishop of Stockport. We shall miss him immensely. Our loss is very much a gain for the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and for the wider Church. “I have no doubt that Nigel is a very wise choice as Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. He will prove to be inspirational to the East Anglian people.” The Bishop of Dunwich, the Rt Revd Clive Young, welcomed Bishop Nigel to the Diocese at a reception held in Ipswich. He said: “Bishop Nigel comes to lead the Diocese at an exciting and challenging time. We look forward to working with him, and assure him of our prayers as he prepares to take up his post.” Nigel and his wife Carolyne will be moving to Suffolk later in the year. They have three grown up sons. Bishop Nigel’s enthronement as the tenth Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is likely to take place in the autumn. He succeeds the Rt Revd Richard Lewis who retires in July.
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The Rt Revd Nigel Stock, pictured in the garden of the Chester Retreat House
Bishop Nigel by the bridge over the River Orwell near Ipswich
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