New Bishop pf Bath and Wells
The Rt Revd Michael Beasley is to become the 80th Bishop of Bath and Wells. I am very much looking forward to having him as my new colleague and to welcoming him and his family to Bath and Wells in due course.
Bishop Michael will be joining us from the Diocese of St Albans where he is currently Bishop of Hertford but he has also played a key role in the Archbishops’ Covid task force, drawing on his background as a scientist.
"Bishop Michael shone through the discernment process as someone who has the qualities we are seeking. He is deeply relational, has mission at his heart and is highly respected by clergy and laity in his current role. He has offered leadership and vision in St Alban’s and has spoken and worked effectively in the public square, most notably making use of his epidemiologist background over the Covid-19 pandemic. He comes from a rural background and brings experience of a wide variety of church traditions and church sizes and much more besides including church planting, pioneering and work with children and young people.”
There will be more information about Bishop Michael on our website very soon. The website and our social media pages will be updated throughout the day as he tours the diocese.
Please join me and pray for him as that is underway:
Gracious God,
we give you thanks for the wonderful ways
in which you gently guide our lives
in order to fulfil your purposes in us.
We give thanks for bringing us all to this day,
and for your continuing presence with us through times of change.
We give thanks especially for Bishop Michael’s coming to us.
May the coming days be filled with your blessing
as he begins to see something of the life of our Diocese,
and meets strangers who will become colleagues and friends.
Guide us all, we pray, through this coming time of preparation,
and pour the gifts of your Spirit upon him, his family, and on this Diocese.
Give to us all the grace of encouragement
as we wait in hope and trust for the unfolding of your plans for us,
that we may build up in one another the confidence
to respond to your call into the future.