June 2009

NEW BISHOP OF LUDLOW IS ANNOUNCED

June 23rd 2009

The new Bishop of Ludlow has been named this morning. He is Alistair Magowan currently Archdeacon of Dorset. His church career has taken him all over the country, although he has been in his present post since 2000.

The new Bishop has worked on the national stage of the Church of England. He is a member of the General Synod, the Church’s Parliament and serves on the all important Business Committee. He has chaired the Election Review Committee and is a member of the Steering Committee working on the legislation which will see the first women bishops in the Church of England.

“I have been privileged to be part of significant work in the area of change in the Church, something I consider is essential, without losing the Good News of Christ which is at the centre of all that we do and say,” he said. “I want to bring a ‘can do’ mentality and a lightness of touch when making the rules work for people.

He and his wife Louise are already planning their move to the Bishop’s House in Halford, near Craven Arms, with their 13 year old daughter, Susanna. The couple’s older two children have already left home.

“I enjoy change and when I get to Ludlow I shall be looking for something different,” he added. “I am really looking forward to getting out and about and meeting people. I like to spot the tiny spark in any encounter that can fire our imaginations and when harnessed bring about transformation.”

The Bishop of Salisbury, David Stancliffe said today: “I am delighted for the Diocese of Hereford that they’re going to have such a lively-minded, prayerful and enterprising new Bishop of Ludlow. As Alistair will be Archdeacon of Ludlow as well, his huge archidiaconal expertise will not be lost to the Church. But he will be enormously missed here.”

The new Bishop grew up in nearby Malvern and went to the King’s School in Worcester. After graduating in Animal Sciences, he trained in Bristol and has since served in Hillsborough, Durham, Runnymede and Dorset. He’s a keen walker and trout fisherman and has an armchair interest in painting and art. Like many clergymen, he also has an interest in railways!

Alistair Magowan will be consecrated in St Paul’s Cathedral in London on September 29th and will have a service of welcome in St Lawrence’s Church, Ludlow the following Sunday, 4th October.