Sometime this week those tasked with nominating a new Archbishop of Canterbury will be meeting for the first of at least three scheduled meetings (the next are in July and September). It is most likely that the person chosen will be a current (likely diocesan) bishop serving in the Church of England although, as with Rowan Williams, this need not be the case. It is, therefore, interesting to stop and consider who our bishops are at present.
What follows offers an analysis of different aspects of the current episcopate drawing on a database I’ve been developing in recent months and with links to the key data provided which will be updated over time (the figures below are I believe correct as of the end of May 2025). A brief guide as to how to explore the database, make the most of those links, and offer feedback on the database appears at the end of this article.
Different groups of bishops
In one sense it is right to say that there are not different types of bishop as all bishops are consecrated to the same order of ministry. In reality, however, there are various distinctions which it is important to clarify as there can be considerable confusion.
Diocesan bishops, Area bishops, Suffragan bishops and “Flying bishops”
There are currently
- 42 dioceses headed by a bishop with ordinary jurisdiction. Click on these links for information on all bishops by diocese in terms of names and numbers.
- 20 area sees within 6 of these dioceses (Chelmsford, London, Leeds, Lichfield, Oxford, Southwark) which are defined geographical areas whose bishops have delegated authority within them.
- 48 suffragan sees within the dioceses and
- 4 Provincial Episcopal Visitors (PEVs or “flying bishops”) offering Alternative Episcopal Oversight (AEO) for those unable to receive the priestly or episcopal ministry of women. One of the 48 suffragan bishops (Fulham) also provides AEO within their diocese (London).
This makes a total of 114 sees. At any one time, of course, there are a number of vacancies (currently 12 comprising 6 diocesans, and 6 suffragans with 1 Area bishop (Wakefield) announced but not yet consecrated). Vacant sees are listed here with those whose bishops have announced their forthcoming retirement here.
A breakdown of these figures and other overview data about the bishops can be seen here (it lists 115 sees because, as explained below, there is unusually a member of the House of Bishops who is an Assistant Bishop without a see).
Lords Spiritual (subset of Diocesans)
Of the 42 diocesans, 5 have seats in the House of Lords by right (the two Archbishops, London, Winchester and Durham) and another 21 are also Lords Spiritual. Two of the diocesans (Europe, Sodor and Man) are not eligible for those 21 seats which are assigned on the basis of seniority but with women being immediately placed at the top of the waiting list on their appointment as diocesans under the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 which has just been extended to be in force for another 5 years to 2030. Currently there are only 24 serving as Canterbury and Durham are vacant. Detailed numerical information about the activity of the Lords Spiritual is available from the database here and with links to their speeches, questions etc on this page.
The House of Bishops (Diocesans plus others)
The House of Bishops is one of the 3 Houses of General Synod. It comprises
- the 42 diocesans,
- the Bishop of Dover (due to their role in Canterbury Diocese),
- the Bishop to the Armed Forces,
- 5 other bishops elected by non-Diocesan Bishops in the Province of Canterbury and
- 4 other bishops elected by non-Diocesan Bishops in the Province of York.
There are thus a maximum of 53 bishops in the House. Where there is a diocesan vacancy the acting bishop attends meetings of the House and General Synod and has voice but no vote. Other bishops (PEVs, some other women bishops and GMH/UKME bishops also attend meetings of the House with voice but no vote but not General Synod).
Unusually, there is currently one elected member of the House (Anne Hollinghurst) who, having been elected as a suffragan bishop, has retained her seat after leaving Aston (to become Principal of Queen’s College) because she remains eligible as an Assistant Bishop who is also a member of the college of bishops in Lichfield Diocese.
More database information about members of the House of Bishops is available here.
The College of Bishops
The College comprises all those in the House and all others who hold a see (and usually those who have been appointed to one but not yet consecrated when the College meets) along with a number of other bishops who are still in active ministry but currently serving in non-episcopal roles.
Bishops in Database
This analysis is focussed on those who are bishops currently serving in one of the sees of the Church of England or in the House of Bishops. It therefore does not include
- Assistant Bishops (with the one exception explained above who is in the House of Bishops) or
- Bishops who have retired or
- Bishops who are still in active ministry but no longer as bishops of a see (for example, Graham Tomlin who left Kensington to lead the Centre for Cultural Witness or Christopher Cocksworth who left Coventry to become Dean of Windsor) although this group are members of the College of Bishops.
A numerical overview of all the bishops is available here with all bishops including vacancies listed by see and by name. In these and all links to the database, clicking on the bishop’s name should open up a full profile of them with relevant information.
Female Bishops (see database information here)
One of the undisputed major legacies of Justin Welby was his success in enabling women to serve as bishops in the Church of England after the Synodical defeat of this development under Rowan Williams. There are now (a decade on) 33 women bishops. These comprise 9 Diocesans, 8 Area and 15 Suffragan bishops plus one Assistant Bishop who is in the House. The House’s 9 elected members include 5 women so, with Dover, there are 15 women in the House of Bishops out of the current 47 serving members.
Among the current bishops, the consecration years of male and female bishops is as follows:
| Year | Male | Female | Total |
| Pre-2015 | 26 | 1 (in NZ) | 27 |
| 2015 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 2016 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2017 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 2018 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 2019 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 2020 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 2021 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 2022 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| 2023 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 2024 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 2025 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Total | 69 | 33 | 102 |
Currently 27 dioceses have one or more women serving as bishops (with London having 3 and Chelmsford, Leeds, Lichfield (including Assistant), and York all having 2). 15 dioceses currently have an all-male episcopate (although 5 of these have vacancies and 2 of these were previously held by women).
21 dioceses now have a mix of male and female bishops, 6 have only females (but 5 of these have vacancies), 14 have only males (but 4 of those have vacancies and 2 have only a diocesan so only 8 have an all-male episcopate with all sees occupied) and 1 has no serving bishops. For more data on the gender balance across dioceses look here.
Since 2015, of the 10 female diocesans appointed, half were appointed after serving as bishops (most for between 2 and 4 years) and half with no previous episcopal experience (true of only 4 of the current male diocesans).
Age (more data here)
In terms of their age at the end of 2025 (exact ages require exact dates of birth which are not available for all bishops), this ranges from 51 to 70 among the diocesans and 46 to 68 among non-diocesans. Bishops must retire at 70 unless granted an extension by the Crown (as with Edmundsbury & Ipswich last year and Bristol this year).
Among the diocesans the list of the oldest and youngest is interesting not least in terms of diversity and the different balances in theological outlook between the oldest (overwhelmingly white, male and more liberal) and youngest (much more mixed in ethnicity, gender balance and theology):
| Oldest | Youngest |
| 70: Viv Faull (retiring Sept 2025) | 51: Michael Volland |
| 69: Christopher Chessun (70 in August 2026) | 52: Helen Anne Hartley |
| 68: Nick Baines, Stephen Conway, Steven Croft, Alan Smith (retiring end May 2025), David Walker. | 53: Sophie Jelley |
| 67: Stephen Cottrell, Michael Ipgrave, Martin Warner | 55: Mark Tanner |
| 66: Robert Innes, Philip Mounstephen | 57: Michael Beasley, Martyn Snow, Paul Williams, |
| 59: Guli Francis-Dehqani, Tricia Hillas, Libby Lane, Philip North. |
Age & Canterbury (more details here)
In relation to Canterbury, clearly age is a major constraining factor in the selection process. It is unlikely anyone over 65 will be chosen (unlike with the Pope!) as they will have less than 5 years in the post but it is also unlikely but not impossible to be offered to anyone under 55 (and perhaps a bit older) as they could then serve for up to 15 years. Rowan Williams was only 52 on appointment but Justin Welby was 57, Carey was 55, Runcie was 58, Coggan was at the upper end being 65 following the long primacy of Ramsey who was appointed at 57 and served until 70. Ramsey served less than Fisher (who went to 74 having also started at 57) but longer than any Archbishop of Canterbury since (Welby being second, just ahead of Carey).
This age range leaves the following diocesans on the basis of this criterion alone:
| 55 | Mark Tanner (also Graham Usher but he is serving on the CNC so not eligible) |
| 57 | Michael Beasley Martyn Snow Paul Williams |
| 59 | Guli Francis-Dehqani Tricia Hillas Libby Lane Philip North |
| 61 | Jonathan Frost Debbie Sellin |
| 62 | Mike Harrison Stephen Lake Rachel Treweek |
| 63 | Sarah Mulally |
| 64 | Jonathan Gibbs Richard Jackson Andrew Watson Pete Wilcox David Williams |
| 65 | Robert Innes Philip Mounstephen |
Age at Consecration (more data here)
The age at which a priest is consecrated bishop varies enormously. Among the current diocesans the youngest at consecration are Southwell & Nottingham and Newcastle who were both only 41. Paul Williams in 2009 had been ordained very young and had 17 years ordained ministry experience whereas Helen-Ann Hartley became a bishop in New Zealand in 2014 after 9 years. 17 other diocesans became bishops in their 40s with 16 in their 50s and 1 (Viv Faull, about to retire) in their early 60s.
Among the area and diocesan bishops there are 7 who were consecrated (most quite recently) aged 45 or under. There are also 7 (obviously mainly recent appointments) in their 60s, including 2 of the Southwark Area bishops signalling significant changes ahead in episcopal leadership in that diocese where the diocesan is 69 this year and two area bishops are the oldest of all the area bishops at 65 and 66.
Length of Service (data available for ordained ministry before consecration, as a bishop and in current see)
The episcopal experience of the diocesans varies from those recently appointed to be diocesans directly (Sodor & Man, Birmingham and Salisbury) and with three years or less (also the newly-appointed Carlisle) to those nearing retirement with twenty or more years. The longest-serving as bishops who are 65 or under are Guildford (17 years), Southwell & Nottingham (16), Portsmouth (15), Leicester (12) with 6 diocesans then having 11 years and 5 of them having 10 years.
In terms of their ordained ministry prior to consecration, Newcastle (9), Peterborough (12) and London (14) all had 15 years or less. The longest-serving before episcopal ministry (after Viv Faull with 31 years) are Pete Wilcox (Sheffield), Philip Mounstephen (Winchester) and Michael Ipgrave (Lichfield) who all served for 30 years pre-consecration. Five others served for 25 years or more, two nearing retirement (Oxford and Chichester) but three of them under 65 (Exeter, Truro and Rochester).
11 of our Area and Suffragan bishops had 15 years or less of ordained ministry experience pre-consecration with this being a feature of several recent appointments (e.g. Barking in 2022 with 10, Kingston in 2023 with 13, Loughborough in 2022 and Willesden in 2024 with 14).
The bishops with longest service in their current see are Middleton (17), St Albans (16) and Southwark and Brixworth (both 14). Among the diocesans, those under 65 with long service in their current sees are Guildford (11), Southwell & Nottingham and Gloucester (10), Leicester (9), Sheffield (8) and London (7). Others have 5 years (Hereford and Chester) or less (e.g Chelmsford, Bath & Wells, Porsmouth) apart from Derby who has served 6 years as a diocesan.
Pre-Episcopal Ministry Patterns (details and summaries of data)
There is such a wide range of ministry roles and portfolios of different patterns of ministry that it is very difficult to offer summaries. In the current climate with many being concerned to “Save the Parish” one area of interest is the amount of parish experience that bishops have after their curacy and before their consecration. Related and in competition with this is the extent to which they have been involved in leadership through diocesan or cathedral or perhaps national roles.
The ministry role of serving diocesan bishops immediately before their consecration (usually to a non-diocesan episcopal role) can be summarised as:
| Role | Number | Bishops |
| Parish | 9 | Blackburn, Derby, Guildford, Manchester, Norwich, Peterborough, Rochester, Southwell & Nottingham, Truro |
| Diocesan (eg Director of Mission/Ministry, Archdeacon) | 14 | Bath & Wells, Carlisle, Chelmsford, Coventry, Exeter, Gloucester, Hereford, Leeds, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Sodor & Man, Southwark, St Albans |
| Cathedral Role (eg Dean, Residentiary Canon) | 8 | Bristol, Chichester, Europe, London, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Sheffield, York |
| Other (eg Theological College, CMS) | 5 | Birmingham, Chester, Newcastle, Oxford, Winchester |
The amount of parish experience post-curacy varies enormously among the diocesan bishops from those with none or very little such as Bath & Wells, Chelmsford and Newcastle to those with 10 years or over (eg Carlisle, Chester, Guildford, Hereford, Leicester, Peterborough, Salisbury, Southwell & Nottingham) and some with 15 years and above (Blackburn, Derby, Norwich, Rochester, Sheffield, Truro, Winchester). More details here.
Theological College (see data here)
The original ordination training context of ministers is often highly formative of them and so it is always interesting to trace the changing institutions of theological education and formation among Church of England bishops. The current serving bishops show the number of bishops trained at each institution is as follows:
| Institution | All | Diocesan | Other | Comment |
| Wycliffe Hall | 18 | 8 | 10 | |
| Ridley Hall | 15 | 5 | 10 | |
| Cranmer Hall | 9 | 5 | 4 | |
| Ripon College, Cuddesdon | 8 | 2 | 6 | |
| Trinity | 8 | 2 | 5 | Also 1 Assistant |
| St Stephen’s | 7 | 3 | 4 | |
| St John’s | 6 | 1 | 5 | |
| SEITE | 5 | 2 | 3 | |
| Westcott House | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
| Oak Hill | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| Overseas | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| College of the Resurrection, Mirfield | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| Queen’s, Birmingham | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| STETS | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Chichester | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| East Anglican Ministerial Training Course | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Edinburgh | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Lincoln | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| North Thames | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Southern NW Training | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| St Albans & Oxford | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| West Midlands | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| TOTAL | 102 | 36 | 65 |
Among the significant shifts in recent decades two which stand out are (1) the growing number of those trained non-residentially (currently 12) and (2) the shift among those residentially trained to those in what are viewed as the six traditionally evangelical colleges (now 60 of the bishops and 21 of the House). This is the working through to the episcopate of the trend highlighted back in 2007 by Gordon Kuhrt who pointed out in Anvilthat “the proportion of college-trained Church of England ordinands training in the evangelical theological colleges has grown in the period 1963-2003 from 33% to 68%”.
Prayers of Love and Faith (PLF with fuller data here)
The stance of bishops in relation to PLF could be measured or estimated in various ways and over time there appears to have been a shift (from Synod votes in the House of Bishops) with more becoming more cautious. One signal as to where bishops stand is when they have acted together to issue statements. Here there are 3 significant statements from conservatives (a Marriage Statement in Jan 2023 with a number of signatures but reportedly wider support, 22 members of the wider College supporting the use of Canon B2 in July 2023, and12 members of the House dissenting from its decisions in October 2023) and a letter from 44 in the College supporting clergy same-sex marriage in November 2023.
Clearly there have been a number of changes in the bishops serving since then and some bishops who were serving and still serve may have had sympathy with some of these but decided not to be public in their support. As shown by the various tables from the database on this page, there are some features of note.
Diocesan bishops: Among the current diocesans 13 supported the call for clergy in same-sex marriage, 7 supported all 3 conservative statements with 2 supporting just one of them. That leaves 14 having supported none of these initiatives.
Female bishops: 4 of the current 9 diocesans supported same-sex marriage and another—Newcastle—has subsequently also signalled her support. All but 1 of the 7 female area bishops in their post in 2023 also supported that letter as did 5 of the current suffragans and the assistant bishop in the House. In contrast, only 2 female bishops, both suffragans (Lancaster and Horsham) publicly supported the more conservative statements.
Age: Of all the 54 current bishops aged 60 and over, 26 signed in support of same-sex marriage for clergy (10 of the current diocesans) and only 7 (5 of the current diocesans) signed any of the conservative statements. Looking ahead in terms of the changing balance within the House, among current diocesans, 10 turn 67 or older this year and of these 6 were among the 44 calling for clergy in same-sex marriage, only 1 has supported all conservatives statements (Chichester) and 3 have remained unaligned (Leeds, St Albans who retires at the end of May, and York).
Canterbury: If one looks at the 19 diocesans in the 55-65 age range, 6 of them supported clergy in same-sex marriage (Chelmsford, Derby, Exeter, Gloucester, Portsmouth and Salisbury), 6 of them supported all 3 conservative statements (Blackburn, Guildford, Hereford, Rochester, Sheffield and Southwell & Nottingham) with 1 (Leicester) supporting the original conservative statement in support of marriage. That leaves only 6 who have not aligned themselves with any of these initiatives (Bath & Wells, Chester, London, Peterborough, Sodor & Man and Truro).
Using the Database Interfaces
The links above are to various interfaces with the underlying database (see the listing below of different interfaces). The form of these varies but below are a few pointers as to how make the most of exploring these interfaces.
- In a number of them at the top left there will be tabs which filter the data by different elements (e.g. male or female)
- Usually at the right hand side there are 4 way of organising the data:
- Group – by choosing a particular aspect of the date (eg type of bishop which will be diocesan, area or suffragan) the display gathers the information under those headings. Each group can be minimised or expanded using the downward arrow (“v”) besides it heading in the list.
- Filter – this allows you to filter the data by different and multiple elements eg age, gender, diocese)
- Sort – this will arrange the display in alphabetical order or numerical order by one of the elements of data (eg name)
- List/Gallery/Grid – this will change the display format and what data is displayed between these three different formats
- Search (magnifying glass symbol) – use to search for and move to a word or number in the data displayed.
- Double-clicking on the name of a bishop in a list or grid or on an image in a gallery should open up a much fuller presentation of data about the bishop and some elements within this can also lead to further information either externally (eg Wikipedia article) or within the database. Similarly clicking on the upward arrow in the top right of boxes with numbers in the “Bishops by Numbers” page should open up more data about the numbers.
This is very much a work in progress and there will inevitably be errors and omissions in the data, problems with the presentation in interfaces, and other technical glitches. I would therefore really appreciate any feedback, corrections etc which can be sent by filling in this form.
Available Interfaces to explore
- Bishops by Numbers
- Information on bishops by see
- Information on bishops by name
- Bishops due to retire
- Currently vacant sees
- Bishops by diocese (names of bishops)
- Bishops by diocese (numbers of bishops)
- Members of House of Bishops
- Female Bishops
- Bishops by age this year
- Bishops by year of consecration
- Bishops by age at consecration
- Bishops by ordained ministry years before consecration
- Bishops by number of years as bishop
- Bishops by number years in current see
- Bishops by theological college
- Prayers of Love and Faith
- Lords Spiritual – Summaries of Activities
- Lords Spiritual – Links to Speeches, Questions etc
- Ministry History (currently only for diocesans)
- Last Pre-Episcopal Role (currently only for diocesans)
- Summary of post-curacy, pre-episcopal ordained ministry (currently only for diocesans)
- Possible Canterbury candidates by age (55-65)