The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England.[1] The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The post is held by Joanne Grenfell[2] whose consecration as bishop, and start of her tenure as Bishop of Stepney, was on 3 July 2019 at St Paul's Cathedral;[3] the principal consecrator was Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury.[4]
The first bishop was appointed to take responsibility for North and East London, which had been under the care of the Bishop of Bedford; the new See was erected because the retiring bishop Robert Billing retained the See of Bedford, and Stepney was a more obvious See for the suffragan for the East End.[5] In 1898, the new Bishop of Islington received responsibility for North London.[6] In the experimental area scheme of 1970, the bishop was given oversight of the deaneries of Tower Hamlets, Hackney, and Islington.[7] The Bishops suffragan of Stepney have been area bishops since the London area scheme was founded in 1979.[8]
| Bishops of Stepney | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1895 | 1897 | George Forrest Browne | (1833–1930). Translated to Bristol |
| 1897 | 1901[9] | Arthur Winnington-Ingram | (1858–1946). Translated to London |
| 1901[9] | 1909 | Cosmo Gordon Lang | (1864–1945). Translated to York, and later to Canterbury |
| 1909 | 1919 | Luke Paget | (1853–1937). Formerly Bishop of Ipswich. Translated to Chester |
| 1919 | 1928 | Henry Mosley | (1868–1948). Translated to Southwell |
| 1928 | 1936 | Charles Curzon | (1878–1954). Translated to Exeter |
| 1936 | 1952 | Robert Moberly | (1884–1978) |
| 1952 | 1957 | Joost de Blank | (1908–1968) |
| 1957 | 1968 | Evered Lunt | (1900–1982) |
| 1968 | 1978 | Trevor Huddleston | (1913–1998). Translated to Mauritius |
| 1978 | 1991 | Jim Thompson | (1936–2003). First area bishop from 1979; translated to Bath and Wells |
| 1992 | 1995 | Richard Chartres | (b. 1947). Consecrated on 22 May 1992. Translated to London in 1995 |
| 1996 | 2002 | John Sentamu | (b. 1949). Translated to Birmingham, and later to York |
| 2003 | 2010 | Stephen Oliver | (b. 1948) Retired 6 July 2010 |
| 2010 | 2011 | Pete Broadbent Bishop of Willesden |
Acted as Bishop of Stepney from 7 July 2010,[10][11] effectively suspended from 23 November 2010 to 10 January 2011,[11] resumed as Acting Bishop until 22 July 2011. |
| 2011 | 2018 | Adrian Newman[12][13] | (b. 1958) Resigned on 31 October 2018 on health grounds.[14] |
| 2018 | 2019 | Pete Broadbent Bishop of Willesden |
Acting as Bishop of Stepney from 31 October 2018 until Grenfell's consecration.[14] |
| 2019 | present | Joanne Grenfell | Since 3 July 2019 consecration.[2] |
| Source(s):[1] | |||
