Mark Sowerby

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The Right Reverend

Mark Sowerby
Principal of the
College of the Resurrection, Mirfield
File:2012 National Pilgrimage to Walsingham (7159951125) (Mark Sowerby cropped).jpg
Bishop Sowerby in 2012
In office2019–present
PredecessorPeter Allan
Other postBishop of Horsham (2009–2019)
Orders
Ordination28 June 1987 (deacon)
by David Young
3 July 1988 (priest)
by Malcolm Menin
Consecration25 July 2009
by Rowan Williams
Personal details
Born (1963-10-28) 28 October 1963 (age 62)
Ripon, West Riding of Yorkshire, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
DenominationAnglican
ResidenceBishop's House, Horsham
ParentsGeoffrey (priest)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1989)​
Childrenthree
Alma materKing's College London

Mark Crispin Rake Sowerby (born 28 October 1963) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2019, he has been the Principal of the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield; he was previously Bishop of Horsham, a suffragan bishop (formerly an area bishop) in the Diocese of Chichester.[1][2]

Early life

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Sowerby was born on 28 October 1963 in Ripon, West Riding of Yorkshire.[3] His father, Geoffrey (a priest),[4] was a minor canon of Ripon Minster.[5] He was educated at Barnard Castle School, then a direct grant grammar school in Barnard Castle, County Durham, and at St Aidan's and St John Fisher Associated Sixth Form, an ecumenical sixth form college in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.[6] He studied theology at King's College, London, and graduated in 1985, with a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree and the Associateship of King's College (AKC). He then entered the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, an Anglo-Catholic theological college, to train for the priesthood. He left the college in 1987 to be ordained.[7]

Ordained ministry

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Sowerby was made a deacon in the Church of England at Petertide (28 June) 1987 by David Young, Bishop of Ripon, during a service at Ripon Cathedral.[8] He was ordained a priest the Petertide following (3 July 1988) by Malcolm Menin, Bishop of Knaresborough.[9] His first posts were curacies at Knaresborough and Darwen[7] after which he was Vicar of Accrington then Vocations Officer and Selection Secretary in The Ministry Division.

His last post before his appointment to the episcopate was Team Rector of St Wilfrid's Church, Harrogate.[10][11][12] One of his final acts as rector was to welcome a proposal from NEDL to erect a primary electricity station in the curtilage of the church. This proposal, generated criticism from, amongst others, the Victorian Society, Private Eye magazine and residents of Harrogate.[13]

Episcopal ministry

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Appointed to become Bishop of Horsham — one of two suffragan bishops of the Diocese of Chichester — in 2009, Sowerby was ordained and consecrated a bishop by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Chichester Cathedral on 25 July 2009.[14] At first, his post was as an area bishop; but the area scheme was wound up in 2013 and he remained a non-area suffragan. During a protracted investigation – while there was a vacancy in the diocesan see — into the efficacy of safeguarding practices in the diocese, Sowerby was additionally Acting Bishop of Chichester. (The senior suffragan of the diocese, Wallace Benn, Bishop of Lewes, was involved in the ongoing investigation.)

On 30 April 2019, it was announced that Sowerby would be the next Principal of the College of the Resurrection, an Anglo-Catholic theological college in West Yorkshire and his alma mater. He succeeded Peter Allan CR, who retired at the end of the 2018–2019 academic year;[15][16] Sowerby resigned his see effective 31 August 2019.[17] Since 2019, he has also been licensed an honorary assistant bishop of the Diocese of Leeds[18] (in which Mirfield is situate).

Views

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Sowerby previously held views consistent with traditionalist Anglo-Catholicism, such as rejecting the ordination of women as priests or bishops. In June 2015, he announced that he had changed his theological outlook and now accepts the ordination of women as priests and bishops. Consequently, he resigned from the Council of Bishops of The Society, a traditionalist Anglo-Catholic association in the Church of England.[19][20]

Personal life

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Sowerby married in 1989 and has three children.[4]

Styles

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References

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  1. ^ The Diocese of Chichester – Acting Bishop of Chichester
  2. ^ Daily Telegraph, "Appointments in the clergy", p. 24, Issue no 47,929 (9 July 2009)
  3. ^ Debrett's People of Today — Mark Sowerby Horsham
  4. ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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  10. ^ Diocese of Chichester website
  11. ^ Church Times
  12. ^ Church website Archived 30 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ [1] Archived 31 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ [2] (Archived [3], 1 August 2009; archive accessed 17 August 2017)
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