THE Bishop of Chichester since 2012, Dr Martin Warner, will retire at the end of May, it has been announced.
In a diocesan statement on Thursday morning, Dr Warner said that it had been an “enormous privilege to work with so many gifted and committed people”. He gave “thanks to God for the call to serve in this diocese and also ask pardon from anyone I have offended”.
Dr Warner trained for the priesthood at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, was ordained priest in 1985, and served his title in Plymouth. Besides posts in Norwich and London dioceses, he was Priest Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham from 1993 to 2002 and Master of the Guardians of the Shrine from 2006 to 2016.
He was consecrated bishop for the Suffragan See of Whitby, in York diocese, in 2010. It was from there that he was translated to Chichester. From 2008 to 2011, he wrote the Church Times’s Sunday’s Readings column.
Dr Warner wrote: “A new diocesan bishop will bring fresh vision and energy, and be supported by a strong, confident team. . . I will hold this joyful household of faith in my prayers as its future unfolds.”
The diocese has said that the two suffragans, the Rt Revd Ruth Bushyager (Horsham), and the Rt Revd Will Hazlewood (Lewes), will “oversee the life of the diocese”. Bishop Hazelwood will take on the formal duties of Acting Bishop, subject to consultation with the Bishop’s Council.
Bishop Hazlewood said that working with Dr Warner had been a “great privilege”; “we have been truly blessed. He is well-versed in this diocese like few others, having ridden his Brompton bike through the parishes, gleaning a deep and prayerful knowledge of the landscape and people in his care.
“He has sought to prioritise its nurture through worship and teaching, to equip the people of God to confidently play their varied parts in the building of Christ’s Kingdom.”
Bishop Bushyager wished Dr Warner “every blessing. His wisdom and faithfulness have been a remarkable gift to this diocese and to the wider Church. With theological depth and pastoral sensitivity, he has enabled our parishes, chaplaincies, and schools to flourish across their unique contexts, holding together diversity and unity with grace.”