THE person nominated to be the next Bishop of Durham has withdrawn from the process, it was announced on Monday. It has not been publicly revealed who the nominee was, or why they declined to take up the appointment.
A statement released by Church House on Monday afternoon said that the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for Durham had nominated a candidate, after interviews in November last year, but that this person had now “decided to withdraw from the nomination”.
The Durham CNC had agreed to reconvene “later in the year to continue the process of discernment”, the statement said, with a timetable to be issued in due course. A reserve candidate had not been chosen, which means that the process is likely to have to restart from an early stage.
The Suffragan Bishop of Jarrow, the Rt Revd Sarah Clark, will continue in her position as Acting Bishop of Durham, which she has held since the retirement of the Rt Revd Paul Butler last year (News, 29 November 2024).
On Monday, the Archbishop of York thanked Bishop Clark, along with others in the diocese, for taking on additional responsibilities during the vacancy.
“I will be praying for them, and please pray for the CNC as they reconvene to seek God’s discernment for the next Bishop of Durham, and for everyone served by the Church in the Diocese,” he said.
In a letter to the diocese on Monday, Bishop Clark and the diocesan secretary for Durham, James Morgan, also asked for prayers.
“Even though the candidate’s identity will remain unknown please do pray for that person and all those affected by this decision,” they wrote, emphasising that the decision had been made by the candidate.
“Clearly this is both unexpected and disappointing news,” they said. An evening of prayer will be held at St Brandon’s, Brancepeth, on Wednesday.
In the letter, Bishop Clark quoted Christ’s injunction in Matthew 14: “Take heart; it is I; do not be afraid.”
She wrote: “Taking heart is a call to courage and hope; to take courage because Jesus is with us even in the most unlikely situations when we cannot see clearly. In such stormy conditions we look to Christ who calls us on in faith and trust.”
The Bishop of Durham is fourth in the traditional order of precedence among Church of England bishops, after the two Archbishops and the Bishop of London.