HM The Queen has approved the nomination of the Revd Dr Nicholas Alan Chamberlain as the next Bishop of Grantham.
Nicholas (51) has been Vicar of the parish of St George and St Hilda, Jesmond, in the Diocese of Newcastle, for nine years.
As 12th suffragan Bishop of Grantham, Nicholas will have pastoral oversight of the archdeaconry of Boston, but will also have a diocese-wide role of developing and encouraging ordained and lay ministry.
Nicholas was born in Staines, Middlesex, and educated at Christleton High School, Chester.
He went on to study English at St Chad’s College, Durham, and while there, came to a living Christian faith. In time, through inspiration from the people of the North East, he offered himself for ordination, for which he trained at Edinburgh Theological College, graduating with a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1988. Nicholas also completed a PhD in American Literature at St Chad’s College, Durham.
In 1991, Nicholas was ordained deacon in Durham Cathedral, and served his title at the parish of St Mary, Cockerton in the Diocese of Durham, being ordained priest in 1992. He went on to serve as curate at St Francis Church, Newton Aycliffe in 1994, before becoming Team Vicar there in 1995. The parish of St Andrew, Great Aycliffe, was added to the team in 1996 to become the Great Aycliffe Team Ministry.
In 1998, Nicholas took up the post of officer for Continuing Ministerial Education and Post Ordination Training in the Diocese of Durham, while also serving as Priest in Charge of St Barnabas, Burnmoor. He took up his current post of Vicar of St George and St Hilda, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 2006.
His interests include music, reading, running and cycling. This Sunday, Nicholas will be competing in the Great North Run, in support of Christian Aid.
Nicholas said: “I was absolutely delighted to be offered the post of Bishop of Grantham. The Diocese of Lincoln is working very hard to develop its life across every community in Greater Lincolnshire, and I look forward very much to playing my part in the wonderful ambition and energy for which the diocese is becoming renowned.
“I’m particularly pleased to have a role that will take me to all parts of the diocese – from the Humber to the Norfolk border, and from near Doncaster to Stamford, to develop, with colleagues, the ordained and lay ministry which is the spine of all the good work the church strives to achieve in every community of the country.
“My personal inspiration for so much of what I do is the parable of the sower. The sower sows the seed with complete generosity and utter abandon. It falls in various places and some of it bears fruit. The point is the sower goes on sowing. I see in this an image of God and of the life to which he calls all Christians.”
The Acting Bishop of Newcastle, the Rt Revd Frank White said, “I am delighted that the wider Church has recognised the gifts and qualities of Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, who has served the people of Jesmond and the ministry of St George’s and St Hilda’s with great flair and energy over the last nine years. During that time he has also worked more widely to encourage vocations to ordained ministry in the Diocese of Newcastle. He will move to be Bishop of Grantham with our gratitude for all he has given to the North East where he has served with distinction in a variety of roles since he was ordained.”
The Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Christopher Lowson, said: “I am gratified that the Diocese of Lincoln has attracted a priest of the calibre of Nicholas Chamberlain to be Bishop of Grantham. He brings fabulous gifts, a truly pastoral heart, a profound faith, and indefatigable dedication to the mission and purpose of the church.”* The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby will consecrate Nicholas as bishop in London on 19 November 2015.
