THE Bishop of Southwark since 2011, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, has announced that he will retire in August 2026, when he reaches his 70th birthday.
Bishop Chessun’s final day in office will be 4 August; his final service as Bishop will be held in Southwark Cathedral on 18 July, during which he will hand his diocesan crosier to the Area Bishop of Croydon, Dr Rosemarie Mallett, who will serve as Acting Bishop of Southwark until a permanent successor is installed.
In a letter to the diocese on Advent Sunday, Bishop Chessun writes that, when he was convalescing after being injured in a taxi last year (News, 4 October, 2024), Dr Mallett had convened the College of Bishops “with authority and grace” in an uncertain time. “I am confident that she will lead a senior team that is well prepared for this change — it is a brilliant and effective team,” he writes.
Before his elevation to Southwark in 2011, Bishop Chessun was for six years the Area Bishop of Woolwich, and Urban Bishop for the diocese of Southwark.
In his letter, he writes: “I have had the privilege of serving this Diocese for over twenty years in two episcopal roles, and of sharing the cure of souls with the many excellent clergy who hold my licence. I am mindful of all that you have given generously and sacrificially, as clergy and lay people, to strengthen partnerships in the Gospel in the parishes and ministries to which you have been called. I thank God for you daily, and ask for your prayers in these concluding months.”
Bishop Chessun is the lead bishop for the Middle East, and has visited the region since the war in Gaza began (News, 26 January 2024). He has also led numerous pilgrimages to the Holy Land. “In recent years I have a very strong sense of how important the reality and metaphor of journey and pilgrimage is in the Christian Faith,” he writes. “It is the Way, as we seek together to understand God’s loving purposes for us, to speak well of each other, and to honour our Baptism and participation in Christ.”
Among the issues on which Bishop Chessun has spoken in the House of Lords are the rights of migrants and asylum-seekers (News, 16 June 2023), the introduction of assisted dying (News, 19 September), and the loss of winter fuel payments for many pensioners (News, 13 September 2024).
Dr Mallett said on Sunday: “This Diocese has been enormously blessed by Bishop Christopher’s reflective leadership style and pastoral care. Under his guidance, we have developed our vision and strategy to ensure that we prioritise our parishes and the people we serve. Most of all, he has helped us, though all the changes and challenges, to always remember to speak well of and to each other, and to walk together even if we don’t always see eye to eye — and it is these values that we will continue to honour as we move into the next phase of our diocesan life.”
The diocesan secretary, Nicola Thomas, said that Bishop Chessun “brings great wisdom and insight and, as a result of his leadership, the Diocese of Southwark remains strong and united as a Christian presence in every community in south London and east Surrey”.