Biographical Notes

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Bishops

Rt Rev Tom Butler - Bishop of Southwark

Born in 1940, Bishop Tom is a scientist by background having gained a Masters and Doctorate in electronics. He trained for ordination with the Mirfield Fathers at the College of the Resurrection in Yorkshire. Having been ordained in 1964 he spent three years as a curate in the Ely and Canterbury Dioceses, before spending twelve years as a lecturer in electronics and as chaplain, first at the University of Zambia and then at the University of Kent at Canterbury. During this period he was on the staff of Lusaka and Canterbury Cathedrals respectively.

Bishop Tom was the Archdeacon of Northolt from 1980 to 1985 and then became Bishop of Willesden (both in the London Diocese). He was appointed Bishop of Leicester in 1991 and Bishop of Southwark in 1998.

He is married to Barbara, who is the Executive Secretary of Christians Aware, an education and development charity and they have two grown up children and three grandchildren.

Bishop Tom has been active at national level and until 1995 he chaired the follow-up to 'Faith in the City', which published the controversial Staying in the City Report. He chaired the General Synod's Board of Mission from 1995 until 2001, the Board of Social Responsibility from 2001 until 2003, and is now Vice Chair (Public Affairs) of the Mission and Public Affairs Council. He is also Chair of the Governors of Ripon College Cuddesdon. He served as the General Synod representative on the Inner Cities Religious Council, an initiative set up by the Department of the Environment until 2001 and is currently Co-Chair of the Inter Faith Network. He entered the House of Lords in 1997.

Bishop Tom is a regular contributor to Radio 4's Thought for the Day and has taken part in other national and local TV and radio programmes. He has also co-authored two books with his wife Just Mission and Just Spirituality in a World of Faiths.

Bishop Tom was enthroned in Southwark Cathedral on 12 September 1998.

Rt Revd Nick Baines - Bishop of Croydon

Bishop Nick was born in Liverpool in 1957 and educated at Bradford University, graduating in 1980 with a BA in German & French. Prior to his ordination he was a specialist in modern languages, working briefly in Germany and France and then for four years in the UK as a Linguist Specialist in Russian.

He graduated from Trinity College, Bristol with a BA in Theological Studies in 1987 and was ordained Deacon in the same year. He was priested in 1988. He was curate at St. Thomas, Kendal, & St Catherine, Crook in the Diocese of Carlisle, then moved to the Diocese of Leicester in 1991. From 1995 to 2005 he was a member of the General Synod (first as a Proctor in Convocation, then later as a member of the House of Bishops). In 1999 he was appointed to the Crown Appointments Commission Review Group (Perry) which produced the report Working with the Spirit. Through the General Synod he also served on the Partnership for World Mission committee and the Board of Mission, representing the Church of England at a number of conferences and meetings.

Nick first came to the Diocese of Southwark in February 2000, when he took up the post of Archdeacon of Lambeth. He has continued his long held interest in youth work as Chair of the Diocesan Children & Youth Development Group. Other interests include the shaping of the church to face the challenges and opportunities of the twenty first century, clergy development, ecumenism, inter-faith dialogue and mission to people outside the church. He represents the Archbishop of Canterbury in inter-faith dialogue in Central Asia (Kazakhstan).

Before moving to Southwark, Nick was the Vicar of Rothley, Leicester, and Rural Dean of Goscote, in the Diocese of Leicester. He has had wide parish experience, including city centre, urban UPA, town centre, market town, rural village, and commuter village. As Archdeacon of Lambeth he had oversight of mainly inner-city and suburban churches, with the extra responsibility of sharing the Bishop's staffing and management of them.

Nick was appointed a Director of Ecclesiastical Insurance in 2002. For many years he has regularly contributed to Pause for Thought on Radio 2 and appears regularly on local and national radio and television. He has published four books: Hungry for Hope (DLT, 1991), Speedbumps & Potholes: Looking for Signs of God in the Everyday (St Andrew Press, 2004), Jesus and People Like Us: the Transforming Power of Grace (St Andrew Press, 2004), Marking Time: Reflections for Lent, Holy Week and Easter (St Andrew Press, 2005).

He was consecrated Bishop of Croydon in May 2003 at St Paul's Cathedral. He is married to Linda and they have three children.

Rt Revd Christopher Chessun - Bishop of Woolwich

Christopher Chessun, 48, who has an identical twin, has been the Archdeacon of Northolt, in the Diocese of London, since 2001. Before becoming an Archdeacon he was Rector of Stepney, St Dunstan and All Saints, in the London Diocese and was Area Dean of Tower Hamlets from 1997-2001. Prior to this he was Chaplain and Minor Canon at St Paul's Cathedral and London Episcopal Area Vocations' Adviser. He has also been Senior Curate at St Mary, Portsea, in the Diocese of Portsmouth and served his title at St Michael and All Angels, Sandhurst in the Diocese of Oxford.

He is a Trustee of the North Thames Ministerial Training Course and Tower Hamlets Mission and Chair of Trustees for St George's Chapel, Heathrow Airport. He has been a Governor and Vice-Chair and Chair of Governors at a number of schools, is a member of the Diocesan Synod in London Diocese and was also a member in of the Diocesan Synod in Portsmouth Diocese.

His interests include history, music, travel and links with overseas churches.

He was consecrated Bishop of Woolwich in April 2005 at Southwark Cathedral.

Rt Revd Richard Cheetham - Bishop of Kingston

When he became Bishop of Kingston in 2002, Richard Cheetham returned to the area of his childhood. He was brought up in Surbiton and his parents still live there. He attended Kingston Grammar School between 1966 and 1974 and went to church in Tolworth and was confirmed in Surbiton.

He won an Open Exhibition to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He graduated in 1977, with a Joint Honours degree in Physics and Philosophy. He was an Oxford Hockey Blue and an under 19 player for England. He followed this with a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at Corpus Christi College Oxford and then taught science at a large comprehensive school in Richmond, North Yorkshire, (1978-1980). From there he moved to be Assistant Physics Master at Eton College, Windsor (1980-1983) before becoming an investment analyst in London.

In 1985, he went to Ripon College, Cuddesdon where he obtained a Certificate in Theology and in 1987 he was ordained deacon.
He served his title at Holy Cross Church, Newcastle and was priested in 1988.

In 1990, he moved to become Vicar of St Augustine of Canterbury, Limbury, Luton in the Diocese of St Albans and was Rural Dean of Luton from 1995 -1998. During this period he was founder and convenor of an ecumenical study group and a founding member of Luton SACRE. He was awarded a PhD by King College London in October 1999 for his thesis on collective worship in schools.

In February 1999 he became the Archdeacon of St Albans and in July 2002, he moved to Southwark when appointed Bishop of Kingston.

He is married to Felicity and they have a daughter and a son. He still plays hockey, tennis and squash regularly. His other interests include cinema and walking.

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