THE Bishop of Taunton, the Rt Revd Ruth Worsley, is to be the Interim Bishop of Liverpool, it was announced on Friday — just below a month after the resignation of Dr John Perumbalath.
Bishop Worsley will serve because the Suffragan Bishop of Wigan, after the Archbishop of York petitioned the King to revive the see. She can have diocesan powers delegated from Archbishop Cottrell.
This shall be Bishop Worsley’s third temporary diocesan ministry, having previously served as Acting Bishop for each Bath & Wells and Coventry.
In a video posted on the diocese of Liverpool’s website on Friday morning, she said that her interim ministry would last for at the very least two years. She was excited, she said, to “work together to take into consideration what God is saying to us during this time of challenge and alter” in Liverpool.
“I realize it’s been a extremely difficult time in the previous few weeks, and you may all come along with your own mixed emotions and feelings about that,” she said.
Dr Perumbalath resigned at the tip of January after an allegation of sexual assault against him was broadcast by Channel 4 News (News, 30 January). He denied the allegations, but said that he didn’t want the story to be “a distraction for this incredible diocese and its people whom it has been an honour and joy to serve”.
He also said that he had been subject to a “trial by media”, and that he had “not done anything incorrect”.
The Suffragan Bishop of Warrington, the Rt Revd Bev Mason, also made a grievance against Dr Perumbalath, the small print of which haven’t been made public (News, 30 January).
On Friday, Bishop Mason, welcoming the brand new appointment, said that Bishop Worsley brought “immense experience, sensitivity, and insight and can play a big part in restoring joy and confidence as she leads the diocese in its ministry and mission”.
Archbishop Cottrell said: “To all those affected by the events which have led us here, I offer my heartfelt prayers. The clergy and folks of the diocese of Liverpool have been in my prayers as well.
“This is a time for healing and for facing the challenges ahead together. I’m deeply grateful to Bishop Ruth for offering her leadership and to the diocese of Bath & Wells for releasing her to support Liverpool on this time of change.”
An announcement from the diocese of Liverpool said that Bishop Worsley would proceed because the Bishop of Taunton, within the diocese of Bath & Wells, with delegations in place in order that she could cope with urgent legal issues in Liverpool.
Her final service in Bath & Wells before she fully takes up her latest post is scheduled to be the chrism eucharist in Holy Week.
Her appointment followed “consultation with the senior leadership team in Liverpool”, the statement said. The Dioceses’ Commission and the Bishop’s Council within the diocese had approved the revival of the see of Wigan at some point of Bishop Worsley’s interim ministry.
The statement made clear that the see of Wigan would lapse once a everlasting diocesan bishop had been appointed, and that the Liverpool Crown Nominations Commission would meet “sooner or later”.
The see of Wigan is included by Crockford’s Clerical Directory in its list of successions in suffragan sees, but is described as “never filled”.
