Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Salisbury’s new bishop is back on home turf
ASENIOR member of the clergy is swapping one West cathedral city for another. The Very Reverend Stephen Lake, Dean of Gloucester, was announced this week as the next Bishop of Salisbury.
He will succeed the Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam who retired last July.
It is something of a move home for Dean Stephen - having both grown up and begun his ministry in the area served by the Diocese of Salisbury.
He grew up in Poole, held his curacy at Sherborne Abbey with Castleton and Lillington and was ordained priest in 1989.
He later became Vicar of St Aldhelm’s, Branksome, Poole from 1992 and was additionally appointed Rural Dean of Poole in 2000.
In 2001, he was appointed Sub Dean of St Albans and took up his role as Dean of Gloucester in 2011.
He is married to Carol, and they have three adult children.
Acting Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Sherborne, the Rt Rev Karen Gorham, said: “I am delighted that Stephen has accepted the invitation to be the 79th Bishop of Salisbury.
“Stephen brings significant creative gifts of leadership to the diocese at an important time.
“Stephen knows the diocese from the past and understands the challenges and opportunities for both our urban and our rural contexts.”
Dean Stephen said: “It is such a privilege and a joy to be called back to the Diocese of Salisbury as Bishop. To be able to serve in the places that formed me will be something rare and special.”
The Diocese of Salisbury contains 434 parishes with 573 churches in 138 groups (known as benefices). Some 90 per cent of the parishes are rural.
In 2020 it was agreed that the process should begin for the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey to be linked to the Diocese of Salisbury. Therefore, Dean Stephen will in due course, once the process is complete, also be Bishop for the Channel Islands.
On arrival in April, he will be the 79th Bishop of Salisbury. The first was St Osmund, appointed in 1078, when the dioceses of Sherborne and Ramsbury were merged.
His last Sunday service at Gloucester Cathedral is anticipated to be April 3.
The Rt Rev Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester said: “The announcement of Dean Stephen’s appointment as the next Bishop of Salisbury is wonderful news, both for the Diocese of Salisbury and for the wider Church, yet he will be sorely missed in the Diocese of Gloucester.”