Sporting south-west London bishop will retire on 20th anniversary of his consecreation

BY TOBY PORTER
toby@slpmedia.co.uk

A bishop whose diocese stretches from Waterloo to Chessington has announced he will retire on the 20th anniversary of his consecration.

The Bishop of Kingston, The Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham, who played hockey for England at U19 level, will end his term of office on 17 October 2022.

He is one of the longest-serving stipendiary bishops in the Church of England.

“It has been a great privilege to serve the Diocese of Southwark for the last twenty years”, said Bishop Richard.

“The Kingston Episcopal Area, covering five London boroughs from Kingston to Waterloo, is a wonderfully interesting and diverse part of London, full of many fine examples of mission and ministry.

It is served by very committed and able clergy and laity and their faithful and imaginative responses and adaptations to the many often rapid changes in communities during the last twenty years have been inspirational.

I have also been privileged to engage with its many excellent institutions and organisations in the wider world on matters of common concern such as the environment, education and inter faith relations,” he continued.

When he retires, Bishop Richard will continue his work as a Co-Director of Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science and also as a member of the newly established Anglican Communion Science Commission.

He added: “Amongst other activities, I hope to have more time for research, for writing and speaking on the relationship between science and religion, to spend more time with family and friends and, health permitting, to improve my tennis beyond its current rudimentary level!”

The Bishop of Southwark, The Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, said, “Bishop Richard has been a faithful and valued member of the episcopal team serving the Diocese and bringing his many distinctive gifts to the task of leading the Kingston Episcopal Area for twenty years.

We have all benefitted from his theological insight and the broad range of his interests. I am very glad that he will continue to work on national and international projects on science and religion and help to shape the Church’s thinking in this important apologetic task.

I commend Richard and Felicity to your prayers and wish them well for all that lies ahead.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, said: “Congratulations on your extraordinary and varied episcopal ministry as bishop of Kingston over these past nearly twenty years.

You have been a blessing to the people and churches of your area and the diocese of Southwark more widely, and your contributions in the areas of interfaith, environmental and science issues have been immense.”

Bishop Richard was born in Leicester, and then lived south of Manchester, but moved to Surbiton in 1966 aged 11 and went to Kingston Grammar School before reading Physics and Philosophy at the University of Oxford.

He taught Physics at a large comprehensive school in North Yorkshire and at Eton College, and spent two years as an investment analyst in the City.

After training at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, he was ordained deacon in 1987 and priest in 1988 and served his curacy in Newcastle.  In 1990 he moved to the Diocese of St Albans as Vicar of St Augustine, Limbury, Luton.

He became Area Dean of Luton in 1995 and in 1999 he was made Archdeacon of St Albans. During the 1990s he did a part-time PhD at King’s College, London researching understandings of religious belief in schools.

Since coming to the Diocese of Southwark as Bishop of Kingston on 17 October 2002 he has been Chair of both the Southwark Diocesan Board of Education and of the Church of England’s Continuing Ministerial Development Panel.

He was also Acting Bishop of Southwark for almost a year during the vacancy in See in 2010-11.

He has been Anglican President, and then Co-Chair, of the national Christian Muslim Forum, a member of the Foundation and Executive of St George’s College Jerusalem (and Chair of its British Regional Committee), and a member of the Church of England’s Environment Working Group.

He is Co-Director of the Templeton-funded project, Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science and is a member of the newly- established Anglican Communion Science Commission.

He has been an Honorary Research Fellow at Kings’ College London since 2011 and Whitelands Professorial Fellow in Christian Theology and Contemporary Issues at the University of Roehampton since 2013.

Bishop Richard is married to Felicity and they have two adult children and five grandchildren. He played hockey for the England U19s team, for the University of Oxford and for the British Universities.

He continued playing both hockey and squash until very recently and was Club President of the Old Kingstonian Hockey Club for several years.

 

Pictured: The Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham/generic church