(featured in Palatinate 20/10/13)
The Right Reverend Paul Butler is to succeed Justin Welby as Bishop of Durham, it has been announced.
On September 12 Downing Street issued a statement to confirm Butler was selected as the 80th Bishop of Durham, seven months after Welby left the diocese to become Archbishop of Canterbury.
He has served as Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham since 2010 and was previously Bishop of Southampton.
During his tenure in Southwell, the evangelist Butler was often seen leading public prayer walks in the streets of Nottingham in an effort to appeal to non-churchgoers.
Speaking of his installation, Butler commented, “While it will be sad to leave Southwell and Nottingham, I am delighted to be coming to Durham and the North East at a time of significant change that is both exciting and challenging in equal parts.
“I come here to serve and to seek to enable the continual renewing of the faith and our engagement with all people in every community.”
Much like Archbishop Welby, Butler has made developing the Church community in Durham and coping with urban poverty his two major priorities, and was keen to outline similar plans for his time in Durham:
“I want to get out and meet people on the ground; to hear about their lives and communities. I want to get to know the area, and being out and about is the only way to really understand people’s needs.
“Tackling poverty together must also be a priority. Together as communities, with the church in all its forms playing a key role, we must see what we can do ourselves as well as look to support from elsewhere.
“I come here deeply aware of the challenges faced by the community and the church. Poverty is a scourge that we can only tackle together.”
Responding to the fact that the North East has one of the UK’s lowest average church attendance percentages, with only 11% of residents regularly attending church, Bishop Butler confirmed his aim to transform the Church’s fortunes in the region:
“Growing the Church is something that has to be the highest priority for the Diocese, growing it in numbers, growing it in depth and growing its discipleship of Jesus Christ.
“It will not be an easy task but I want the Church to be good news for the area, I want people to talk more positively about it.”
In a public consultation earlier this year, churchgoers in the Durham diocese made clear they wanted continuity with predecessor Archbishop Welby, who during his year-long tenure in Durham drew up plans to reverse declining congregations.
Such continuities led to the appointment of Bishop Butler, who will become the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England when he is installed early next year in a ceremony at the Cathedral.
The position includes an automatic seat in the House of Lords as advocate for the North East, and Butler will be relied upon to stabilise one of the most senior positions in the Church.
The announcement was accompanied by a day of events across the region, during which Butler visited Holy Trinity Primary school in Southshields and attended several meetings at Durham Cathedral.
The new bishop then travelled to Easington Colliery, where he signed up as a member of the Durham County Credit Union. He later tweeted, “Wonderfully warm welcome all over Durham today. Thanks so much to all.”
Butler, a 57-year old father of four, regularly tweets at his @BishopPaulB account and has a blog at http://bishoppaulbutler.wordpress.com, which includes details of his regular excursions to Africa on behalf of the Church.
Gabriel Samuels 