The Bishop of Birmingham heads 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 Birmingham

Anglican Diocese of Birmingham

The Anglican Diocese of Birmingham is a diocese in the Church of England's Province of Canterbury, covering the north west of the traditional county of Warwickshire in England....

, 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...

, in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

The diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 covers the North West of the historical county of Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 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...

 in the City of Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, West Midlands

West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

, where the seat of the diocese is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Philip

St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham

The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip is the Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. Built as a parish church and consecrated in 1715, St Philip's became the cathedral of the newly formed Diocese of Birmingham in the West Midlands in 1905...

 which was elevated to cathedral status in 1905.

The Bishop's residence is Bishop's Croft in Harborne

Harborne

Harborne is an area three miles southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.- Geography :...

, Birmingham.

The office has existed since the foundation of the see in 1905 from the Diocese of Worcester under King Edward VII

Edward VII of the United Kingdom

Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...

.

The present bishop is the Rt. Revd. David Urquhart, who was inaugurated on 17 November 2006. He was formerly suffragan

Suffragan bishop

A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...

 Bishop of Birkenhead

Bishop of Birkenhead

The Bishop of Birkenhead is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after Birkenhead, a town located on the Wirral Peninsula....

 in the Diocese of Chester

Diocese of Chester

The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York based in Chester, covering the county of Cheshire in its pre-1974 boundaries...

.

The bishop is assisted by the suffragan Bishop of Aston

Bishop of Aston

The Bishop of Aston is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Birmingham, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Aston, an area of the City of Birmingham...

.

List of bishops

Bishops of Birmingham
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1905	1911	Charles Gore Charles Gore Charles Gore was a British theologian and Anglican bishop.-Early life and education:Gore was the third son of the Honourable Charles Alexander Gore, and brother of the fourth Earl of Arran...	Translated from Worcester Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury... ; nominated 20 January and invested 27 January 1905; translated to Oxford Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford... , 17 October 1911.
1911	1924	Henry Wakefield	Nominated 20 October and consecrated 28 October 1911; resigned 1 August 1924; died 9 January 1933.
1924	1953	Ernest Barnes	Previously a Canon of Westminster Westminster Abbey The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...  since 1918; nominated 1 September and consecrated 29 September 1924; resigned April 1953 and died 29 November 1953.
1953	1969	Leonard Wilson	Previously Bishop of Singapore Bishop of Singapore The Bishop of Singapore is the diocesan bishop for the Anglican Diocese of Singapore, founded in 1909.-List of bishops:*1881 Rt Revd George Frederick Hose, Bishop of Singapore, Labuan & Sarawak 1881*1909 Rt Revd Charles James Ferguson-Davie...  (as a POW Prisoner of war A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict... ) 1941–1948 then Dean of Manchester Dean of Manchester The Dean of Manchester is based in Manchester, England and is the head of the Chapter of Manchester Cathedral. The current Dean is The Very Reverend Rogers Govender.-List of Deans of Manchester:* William Herbert 1840–1847...  since 1948; nominated 30 June and confirmed 28 September 1953; resigned 30 September 1969; died 18 August 1970.
1969	1977	Lawrence Brown	Translated from Warrington Bishop of Warrington The Bishop of Warrington is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Liverpool, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Warrington in Cheshire.-List of the Bishops of Warrington:... ; nominated 7 October and confirmed 9 December 1969; resigned 1 November 1977; died in 1993.
1977	1987	Hugh Montefiore Hugh Montefiore Hugh William Montefiore was Bishop of Birmingham from 1977 to 1987.He was a member of a famous Jewish family. His father was Charles Sebag-Montefiore . He was educated at Rugby School , St John's College, Oxford, and Westcott House, Cambridge...	Translated from Kingston-upon-Thames Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames The Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames, often referred to simply as Bishop of Kingston, is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Kingston upon Thames, a settlement in south-west... ; nominated 7 November 1977 and confirmed 23 February 1978; resigned in 1987; died 13 May 2005.
1987	2002	Mark Santer Mark Santer Mark Santer is an Anglican bishop in the last decades of the 20th century and the very early part of the 21st.Santer was educated at Marlborough College and Queens’ College, Cambridge before his ordination in 1964....	Translated from Kensington Bishop of Kensington The Bishop of Kensington is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England... ; nominated and confirmed in 1987; resigned 31 May 2002.
2002	2005	John Sentamu John Sentamu John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu is the 97th Archbishop of York, Metropolitan of the province of York, and Primate of England. He is the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.-Life and career:...	Translated from Stepney Bishop of Stepney The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets... ; nominated 11 June 2002; translated to York Archbishop of York The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...  in 2005.
2006	present	David Urquhart	Translated from Birkenhead Bishop of Birkenhead The Bishop of Birkenhead is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chester, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after Birkenhead, a town located on the Wirral Peninsula.... ; nominated 23 May 2006; inaugurated 17 November 2006.
Source(s):

External links

• Diocese of Birmingham
• Birmingham Cathedral