The Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

is the Ordinary

Ordinary

In those hierarchically organised churches of Western Christianity which have an ecclesiastical law system, an ordinary is an officer of the church who by reason of office has ordinary power to execute the church's laws...

 of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 Diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich

Diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich

The Diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich is a Church of England diocese based in Ipswich, covering Suffolk . The cathedral is St Edmundsbury Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich...

 in the Province of Canterbury

Province of Canterbury

The Province of Canterbury, also called the Southern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England...

.

The diocese covers most of the County of Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

 and has its see

Episcopal See

An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...

 is in the town of Bury St Edmunds where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint James, formerly a parish church, which was elevated to cathedral status in 1913.

The Bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Ipswich, Suffolk.

The office has existed since the foundation of the diocese from the dioceses of Ely

Diocese of Ely

The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now covers Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk...

 and Norwich

Anglican Diocese of Norwich

The Diocese of Norwich forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.It traces its roots in an unbroken line to the diocese of Dunwich founded in 630. In common with many Anglo-Saxon bishoprics it moved, in this case to Elmham in 673...

 by Act of Parliament

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 in 1913 under King George V

George V of the United Kingdom

George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....

. The current bishop is the Right Reverend William Nigel Stock

William Nigel Stock

William Nigel Stock is the current Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich; a post he has held since 2007....

.

List of the Bishops of the Diocese of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich, England

Tenure	Incumbent	Notes
1913 to 1921	Henry Hodgson DD	Enthroned March 1914
1921 to 1923	Albert David	|
1923 to 1940	Walter Whittingham
1940 to 1954	Richard Brook Richard Brook (bishop) The Rt Rev Richard Brook, DD, MA was an eminent Anglican Bishop in the middle of the 20th century. He was born in 1880 and educated at Bradford Grammar School and Lincoln College, Oxford and ordained in 1905. He was a Fellow and Tutor at Merton College from 1906 to 1919 then Headmaster of...  DD
1954 to 1966	Arthur Morris DD
1966 to 1978	Leslie Brown CBE DD	Archbishop of Uganda
1978 to 1986	John Waine John Waine John Waine KCVO was Bishop of Chelmsford from 1986 to 1996; and previously Bishop of Saint Edmundsbury and Ipswich from 1978 to 1986, Bishop of Stafford, 1975–1978. He also served as Clerk of the Closet from 1989 to 1997, and in retirement served as a lay member on the Press Complaints Commission...  KCVO BA	Translated to Chelmsford Bishop of Chelmsford The Bishop of Chelmsford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford in the Province of Canterbury.The current bishop is the Right Reverend Stephen Cottrell, the 10th Bishop of Chelmsford, who signs Stephen Chelmsford...
1986 to 1992	John Dennis John Dennis (bishop) John Dennis was the Bishop of Knaresborough from 1979 to 1986 and the St Edmundsbury and Ipswich from 1986 to 1996. Now retired, he is an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Winchester...	Father of British comedian Hugh Dennis Hugh Dennis Peter Hugh Dennis is an English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist, best known for his work with comedy partner Steve Punt. He is also known for his position as a permanent panelist on the TV comedy show Mock The Week...
1992 to 2007	Richard Lewis
2007 to present	Nigel Stock