New Bishop Of Guildford Is Announced

Published on: 26 Sep, 2014
Updated on: 30 Sep, 2014

The new Bishop of Guildford will be the Rt Revd Andrew Watson.

The new Bishop of Guildford will be the Rt Revd Andrew Watson.

Bishop Andrew (53), who has been Bishop of Aston since 2008, is expected to be installed in a service at Guildford Cathedral in February 2015 as the tenth Bishop of Guildford.

On Friday (September 26), Bishop Andrew spent the day meeting staff, clergy, residents, teachers and pupils across the diocese, before he and his wife Beverly, attended evensong at Guildford Cathedral.

In a report on the Guildford Diocese website that includes a film clip, Bishop Andrew said: “It is both exciting and deeply humbling to be invited to serve the people of Surrey and north-east Hampshire, and to lead the Church of England in mission across the Guildford Diocese.

“Although I don’t know the area covered by the diocese that well, having spent much of my childhood in Winchester and served most of my ministry in west London, I’ve come to appreciate some of the county’s beauty spots over the years – Hindhead Commons and Box Hill in particular.

“But the churches’ commitment to food banks, street pastoring, credit unions and relationship counselling reminds us that there’s another side to life in the region. In fact it’s often hardest to be struggling when others around us seem to have it easy.

“My greatest joy as a bishop is seeing the Living God at work, transforming the lives of individuals and communities, and harnessing the extraordinary potential of adults, young people and children alike. Prayerfully developing a climate in which that potential is both recognised and released seems to me at the heart of the task of leadership for parents, teachers, vicars and bishops; in fact for all leaders everywhere. And the Diocese of Guildford is clearly stuffed full of potential.”

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