Bishop of Peterborough is commissioned as Assistant Bishop

Left to right: The Revd Canon Gordon Steele (to be Archdeacon of Oakham from Easter 2012); The Ven. Hugh McCurdy, Archdeacon of Huntingdon; The Rt Revd Donald Allister, Bishop of Peterborough; The Rt Revd Stephen Conway, Bishop of Ely; The Revd Canon Gillian Jessop, Rural Dean of Peterborough; The Revd Malcolm Griffith, Rural Dean of Yaxley.

The Bishop of Peterborough, the Rt Revd Donald Allister, was commissioned as Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Ely at a service at St Andrew’s Church, Alwalton, on 21st November. This means that he now has the Bishop of Ely’s authority to speak on behalf of all Anglican Christians in the City of Peterborough.

The ancient boundary between the dioceses of Ely and Peterborough follows the line of the River Nene, meaning that Fletton, Orton, Woodston, Stanground and other villages in the Yaxley Deanery are in the Ely Diocese, even though they are within the civic boundary of the City of Peterborough.

“The boundaries of the church are defined by history but we need not be confined by them” said Rt Revd Stephen Conway, Bishop of Ely, in his address. “God is always leaping over boundaries.” He added, “This is not about legal joining. It is not about territory. It is about friendship between two dioceses: a prophetic friendship for the sake of the community and the Gospel.”

The new arrangement will mean that Bishop Donald and the Archdeacon of Oakham will be the key points of contact between Peterborough City Council and the Church of England. Bishop Donald may also preside at Confirmation services and Licensings of clergy in the parishes south of the River Nene.

A similar extension of episcopal authority was made in 2004 between Bishop Donald and Bishop Stephen’s predecessors, the late Bishop Ian Cundy and Bishop Anthony Russell.

24th November 2011