Christopher Lowson

Christopher "Chris" Lowson (born 3 February 1953)[1] is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2011, he has been the 72nd Bishop of Lincoln.[2]

The Right Reverend Christopher Lowson
Bishop of Lincoln
The Lord Bishop of Lincoln, 2019
Church	Church of England
Diocese	Diocese of Lincoln
In office	2011–present
Predecessor	John Saxbee
Other posts	Archdeacon of Portsmouth/of Portsdown (1999–2006; title changed November 1999) Director of Ministry Division (2006–2011)
Orders
Ordination	1977 (deacon) 1978 (priest) by Mervyn Stockwood
Consecration	2011
Personal details
Born	3 February 1953 Consett, County Durham, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Spouse	Susan Lowson
Children	two
Alma mater	King's College London

Education and ordination

Lowson was educated at Newcastle Cathedral School, Consett Grammar School and King's College London where he was awarded an Associateship of King's College qualification in theology in 1975.[3][4] He then studied at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, (as a World Council of Churches' scholar), where he received a Master of Sacred Theology degree in theology before being ordained in 1977.[5][6][7][8] During his work Lowson studied part-time at Heythrop College, University of London, where he obtained a Master of Theology degree in pastoral theology in 1996 and, in 2003, he completed a Master of Laws degree in canon law at Cardiff Law School.[6][8]

Ordained ministry

Lowson was made a deacon at Petertide 1977 (3 July)[9] and ordained a priest the Petertide following (2 July 1978), both times by Mervyn Stockwood, Bishop of Southwark, at Southwark Cathedral.[10] He began his ordained ministry as an assistant curate in Richmond, Surrey. He was successively priest in charge (1982 to 1983) and vicar (1983 to 1991) at Holy Trinity, Eltham. From 1982 to 1985 he was also a chaplain at Avery Hill College and then of Thames Polytechnic to 1991. That year, he became vicar of Petersfield and rector of Buriton.[11] He held this appointment for eight years, for the last four of which he was also rural dean of Petersfield. In 1999 he became Archdeacon of Portsmouth, which soon after was divided into the archdeaconries of The Meon and of Portsdown; Lowson remained, becoming the Archdeacon of Portsdown until 2006. In that year he was appointed director of the Ministry Division of the Archbishops' Council and a priest vicar at Westminster Abbey, posts he held until the confirmation of his election to the See of Lincoln.[12]

Episcopal ministry

Lowson's election as Bishop of Lincoln was confirmed at Lambeth Palace on 19 July 2011.[13] He was consecrated as a bishop on 21 September 2011 in Westminster Abbey and enthroned in Lincoln Cathedral on 12 November 2011.[14] He is believed to be the only steel worker ever to have been appointed a bishop.[15] He was introduced to the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual on 14 September 2017.[16]

Following information provided by police, Lowson was suspended from office by Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 16 May 2019. According to Welby, the suspension was in relation to a safeguarding children inquiry, but "is a neutral act", and there has been "no allegation that [he] has committed abuse of a child or vulnerable adult".[17] He accepted a misconduct penalty in relation to his mishandling of "a disclosure about a member of clergy in the Lincoln diocese in early 2019", and returned to work in February 2021.[18][19][20]

Clubs

He is a member of the Athenaeum Club and the Royal Automobile Club.

Styles

• The Reverend Chris Lowson (1978–1999)[21]
• The Venerable Chris Lowson (1999–2011)[22][23][24][25][26]
• The Right Reverend Christopher Lowson (2011–present)

References

1. "Lowson, Christopher". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2017 (November 2016 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 12 June 2017. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
2. BBC News
3. "Bishop of Lincoln to be introduced to House of Lords". Market Rasen Journal. 12 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
4. "Three alumni appointed as Bishops" (PDF). Comment (King's College London quarterly newsletter). March 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
5. "Home > News > Diocese of Lincoln". The Official Site of the British Prime Minister. London, United Kingdom: HM Government. 15 April 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2012. The Queen has approved the nomination of the Venerable Christopher Lowson, AKC, STM, MTh, LLM, Director of Ministry at the Archbishops' Council, for election as Bishop of Lincoln.
6. "News > Appointment of 72nd Bishop of Lincoln". The Diocese of Lincoln. 14 April 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
7. Crockfords (London, Church House, 1995) ISBN 0-7151-8088-6
8. "Christopher Lowson, Bishop of Lincoln". Linkedin. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
9. "Petertide ordinations". Church Times (#5968). 1 July 1977. p. 4. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 12 June 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
10. "Petertide ordinations". Church Times (#6021). 7 July 1978. p. 5. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 12 June 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
11. Church website
12. Number 10
13. Diocese of Lincoln – Confirmation of the 72nd Bishop Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 15 July 2013)
14. Diocese of Lincoln – Consecration of Christopher Lowson Archived 15 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
15. "Director of Ministry – and former steel-worker – appointed 72nd Bishop of Lincoln". Lincoln, England: JUST Lincolnshire (Lincolnshire's Equality and Human Rights Council). 19 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012. His father, grandfather (a professional footballer) and great-grandfather had all worked at Consett's steel works and Lowson worked there for two summers as a labourer in the coke ovens at the plant while undertaking his initial training for the ordained ministry.
16. Lords' Calendar – 14 September 2017 (Accessed 7 September 2017)
17. "Bishop of Lincoln Christopher Lowson suspended from office". BBC News. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
18. "Lincoln bishop accepts misconduct penalty after safeguarding probe". The Lincolnite. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
19. "Bishop of Lincoln: Christopher Lowson can return after inquiry". BBC News. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
20. Church Times (1 February 2021). "Bishop of Lincoln can return to duty after 20-month safeguarding investigation".
21. St Peter's Petersfield – The History of St Peter’s Church (Accessed 21 December 2015)
22. Southern Daily Echo – Archdeacon Peter is man for new era (Accessed 21 December 2015)
23. Diocese of Portsmouth – New Archdeacon for Portsmouth and Havant (Accessed 21 December 2015)
24. The Daily Telegraph – Church to tackle shortage of vicars (Accessed 21 December 2015)
25. The Daily Telegraph – Women priests to match males by 2025 (Accessed 21 December 2015)
26. Lindisfarne Regional Training Partnership – Visit from Director of the Ministry Division (Accessed 21 December 2015)