The Right Reverend

Stephen Lowe
Bishop of Hulme
ChurchChurch of England
DioceseDiocese of Manchester
In office1999 – July 2009 (retired)
PredecessorColin Scott
Other post(s)Honorary assistant bishop in St Asaph (2009–2018)
Bishop for Urban Life and Faith (2006–2009)
Archdeacon of Sheffield (1988–1999)
Orders
Ordinationc. 1968 (deacon); c. 1969 (priest)
Consecration1999
Personal details
Born (1944-03-03) 3 March 1944 (age 80)
DenominationAnglican
ProfessionWriter; broadcaster
Alma materBirmingham Polytechnic (BSc)

Stephen Richard Lowe (born 3 March 1944) was, until his retirement in July 2009, the suffragan Bishop of Hulme in the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, Link Bishop for Namibia and Chair of the Urban Bishops Panel. From 1988 to 1999 he had served as Archdeacon of Sheffield.

In 2006, he was released from all pastoral oversight in the diocese to concentrate on his 2006 appointment as the Church of England's first "Bishop for Urban Life and Faith", charged with the promotion and dissemination of conclusions of the Faithful Cities report.[1]

Political views

In 2004, Lowe commented in a diocese newsletter on the patriotic hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country, criticising it for being "heretical" and calling on fellow Church of England clergymen to think "long and hard" about singing the song due to (in Lowe's view) its nationalist undertones.[2]

In 2006, Lowe defended the Church of England's review of its shares in Caterpillar Inc. and other companies used in the territories occupied by the Israeli government,[3] and the Church's planned sale of Jacob And His Twelve Sons by Francisco de Zurbarán.[4]

In 2008, Lowe voiced support of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the media controversy over Williams' remarks on sharia law, calling the media treatment of Williams "disgraceful" and a "knee-jerk" reaction in interviews on Newsnight and Radio 4 on 8 February and an appearance on Question Time'.[5][6]

In June 2008 a report commissioned by Lowe, Moral, But No Compass – Church, Government and the Future of Welfare, by Francis Davis and Elizabath Paulhus was the lead story in The Times and has subsequently been the subject of two House of Lords debates.

In June 2009 his book, What Makes a Good City? Public Theology and the Urban Church (which Lowe had co-authored with the theologian Elaine Graham), was published by Darton, Longman and Todd.

On 11 February 2017, Lowe was one of fourteen retired bishops to sign an open letter to the then-serving bishops of the Church of England. In an unprecedented move, they expressed their opposition to the House of Bishops' report to General Synod on sexuality, which recommended no change to the Church's canons or practices around sexuality.[7] By 13 February, a serving bishop (Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham) and nine further retired bishops had added their signatures;[8] on 15 February, the report was rejected by synod.[9]

References

  1. ^ "The Church of England is to appoint its first Bishop for Urban Life and Faith". 3 October 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  2. ^ "According to the Daily Telegraph, Bishop Lowe claimed the rise in English nationalism had parallels "with the rise of Nazism. Later, he told Sky News that the paper had misreported him when it said he had called for the hymn to be banned. [...] A spokesman for the Church of England said the bishop was entitled to his own opinions. " Mark Oliver, Hymn has racist overtones, says bishop, The Guardian 12 August 2004. Gerry Hanson, Patriotism and sacrifice. The Diocese of Oxford Reporter, 28 September 2004. Today programme (13 August 2004). "I Vow To Thee My Country". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 31 August 2007. Hanson, Gerry (28 September 2004). "Patriotism and Sacrifice". Diocese of Oxford Reporter. Archived from the original on 8 July 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
  3. ^ "Bishop defends Church Israel move". BBC News. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  4. ^ "Church to sell art treasures". BBC News. 20 September 2001. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  5. ^ "Williams 'shocked' at Sharia row". BBC News. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
  6. ^ "Archbishop defends Sharia remarks". BBC News. 9 February 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2008.
  7. ^ Retired Bishops' Letter — The Letter Archived 12 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 11 February 2017; the fourteen bishops were David Atkinson, Michael Doe, Tim Ellis, David Gillett, John Gladwin, Laurie Green, Richard Harries, Stephen Lowe, Stephen Platten, John Pritchard, Peter Selby, Tim Stevens, Martin Wharton, and Roy Williamson.)
  8. ^ Retired Bishops' Letter — New Signatures Archived 18 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 17 February 2017); the nine bishops were Gordon Bates, Ian Brackley, John Davies, Peter Maurice, David Rossdale, John Saxbee, Martin Shaw, Oliver Simon, and David Stancliffe.
  9. ^ The Grauniad — Church of England in turmoil as synod rejects report on same-sex relationships (Accessed 17 February 2017)

External links

Church of England titles Preceded byMichael Paton Archdeacon of Sheffield 1988–1999 Succeeded byRichard Blackburn
Bishops of Hulme
Spokesperson bishops in the Church of England
Archdeacons of Sheffield and of Sheffield and Rotherham
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