Hope on Hope Street for College of Bishops

THE Church of England’s College of Bishops, which met in Liverpool, last week, attended choral evening prayer in the Metropolitan Cathedral before joining the pilgrimage walk that links the Anglican and RC cathedrals. The Archbishop of York; a former Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Revd Malcolm McMahon (centre); and the Interim Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Ruth Worsley (left), were among those to join the walk. It included pauses for reflection, prayer, and readings at landmarks such as the statues of a former Bishop of Liverpool, Lord Sheppard, and his RC counterpart, Archbishop Derek Warlock. Bishop Worsley said that it reflected the theme of hope explored by the College.

SEC amends how Province’s bishops are elected

THE Scottish Episcopal Church’s General Synod, in a special online meeting, has amended the way in which the Province’s bishops are elected. Amendments to its Canon 4, which governs the election of bishops, were carried on Tuesday of last week and will come into effect for the coming election of a new Bishop of Edinburgh to succeed Dr John Armes, who retired at the end of August. A version of the changes was approved at their First Reading in the Synod in June, but needed a Second Reading to be enacted. Ordinarily, this would occur at the following year’s Synod meeting, but, instead, a rare second meeting was convened. Under the election process for Scottish bishops, an electoral synod from the diocese votes on the candidates, and a transferable-vote system is used if no candidate achieves an absolute majority in early rounds of voting. If the diocese’s electoral synod cannot agree on a candidate, the decision passes to a synod of the Bishops. The canon was previously amended in 2023. Feedback after the elections of Bishops of Argyll & The Isles and Glasgow & Galloway led to the further amendments approved this month.

Convicted retired priest stripped of his MBE

A RETIRED priest in the diocese of Salisbury, Timothy Biles, 90, of Sherborne, who was jailed for six years in December 2024 after being found guilty of indecent assault of boys as young as 11 (News, 3 January), has been stripped of his MBE, local media report. The charges dated to the 1960s, when he was a PE teacher and chaplain at a school in Dorset. Mr Biles had been appointed MBE for services to the Church of England five years ago (News, 12 October 2020). As of August, this has been revoked. At the time of his sentencing, the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Stephen Lake, had said that, while steps were being taken to recommend its revocation, this decision was out of the Church’s hands. The award of the title of Canon Emeritus had, however, been removed. Mr Biles’s permission to officiate was withdrawn in 2022 when the diocese was made aware of the police investigation.

Prayers for Seaford after boy stabbed to death

THE fatal stabbing of a 16-year-old boy at Seaford Station, East Sussex, has sent “shock waves across the diocese” of Chichester, “but especially affects close knit communities in and around Seaford”, the Bishop of Lewes, the Rt Revd Will Hazlewood, has said. Joshua Ingram, who was 16 and lived near by in Newhaven, died after being stabbed in the back and side outside the station at about 5 p.m. on Wednesday of last week. Bishop Hazlewood said in a statement the next day: “The local clergy and their parish communities are doing everything possible to create space to allow local people to express their grief and support all those affected by yesterday’s tragic events.” A 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons has been charged with the murder. He has also been charged with possession of a bladed article and was remanded into youth detention before a hearing at Lewes Crown Court. The two teenagers are thought to have been known to each other. British Transport Police have asked anyone with information to phone 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 428 of 10 September.