One of the county’s most senior priests has been chosen to be a Bishop, it was announced today by Downing Street.
The Archdeacon of Ipswich, the Venerable Rhiannon King, will become the new Bishop of Southampton in the Diocese of Winchester in just over a month’s time.
Archdeacon Rhiannon, 52, said: "I have developed a deep affection for the people of Ipswich over the last five or so years and I am going to miss my amazing colleagues, lay and ordained, enormously. My role here in Suffolk as one of four archdeacons has been an incredibly exciting one which has brought me much joy and recently I have been quietly wondering what God had in store next. Now I know, and I very much look forward to becoming the new Bishop of Southampton."
In her new role Rhiannon will be working as a suffragan bishop to assist the diocesan Bishop of Winchester and she will have a special responsibility for Southampton, Bournemouth and the towns and villages nearby.
She added: "Southampton is a place remarkably similar to Ipswich, though much larger, and it feels like some of the things I have been learning here in Suffolk could be of use there and also in nearby Bournemouth. I’m passionate about helping churches to grow deeper in their faith, to grow younger and more diverse, and I love to see new people being helped to find faith so I will be prioritising these things."
Bishop Martin said: "I very much believe this is the right role for Archdeacon Rhiannon and our loss will be Southampton’s gain. Since arriving here in 2019 she has shown great inspiration, vision and imaginative leadership in different aspects of her role, and she is now ready to take on new challenges. Her passion for supporting communities, helping churches to be outward-looking and her prayerful energy will stand her in good stead for her new Bishop’s role. She leaves our diocese with our blessing and enormous thanks for the difference she has made."
In Suffolk Archdeacon Rhiannon has focused on leading the ‘Inspiring Ipswich’ project, a seven-year initiative to strengthen the life of the Anglican churches in the town and help them to reach out to their local communities. Since 2019 the churches in Ipswich deanery have made contact with more than 20,000 new people, 45 new worshipping communities have started and over 1,200 new people have joined one of the congregations.
She has been the Vice Chair of ‘Together for Ipswich’ (a collaboration of over 40 churches from different denominations and networks) where she has been particularly active in reaching out to refugees and asylum seekers.
In the last year she has been instrumental in helping a national charity, ‘Leading your Church into Growth’ (LyCiG), acquire substantial funding and she has been a trustee of ‘Community Action Suffolk’.
Before coming to Ipswich, Archdeacon Rhiannon was the Director of Mission in the Church of England, Birmingham and before that a vicar of four rural villages just outside Cambridge and a member of General Synod. She grew up in Oxford. Her last service will be at St Matthew’s Church in Portman Road, Ipswich, on Sunday 6 October at 6.00pm and she will move with her husband, Philip (an Associate Director in a science facility outside Oxford) to Southampton shortly after this.
Her consecration takes place on Friday 18 October at Canterbury Cathedral.