THE Suffragan Bishop of Warrington, the Rt Revd Beverley Mason, has announced her resignation, after being away from the diocese for nearly two years.
Announcing the choice on Wednesday in a letter to the diocese, Bishop Mason said that she didn’t know what her future held, but she thanked supporters for his or her friendship and prayers.
The Interim Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Revd Ruth Worsley, said on Wednesday: “It is with heavy hearts we receive this news today. We are thankful for all that Bishop Bev has given in her ministry amongst us here within the Liverpool diocese. She goes with our love and prayers for the longer term.”
Bishop Mason has been on a leave of absence from Liverpool diocese since autumn 2023, and revealed in January that this was connected to a grievance that she had made concerning the then Bishop of Liverpool, Dr John Perumbalath. Dr Perumbalath resigned after Bishop Mason and one other woman made allegations of misconduct against him, which he denied (News, 31 January).
In her letter to the diocese this week, Bishop Mason said that, in 2023, she had been “advised to take ‘prolonged study leave’ on the understanding that the causative could be resolved soon thereafter”.
“Although resolution was out of my hands, I’m profoundly sorry that it has taken so long,” she wrote, and suggested that there was “much learning the Church might take” from the saga.
“Only self-examination will result in contrition, repentance, amendment and the blessing we long for. After an extended time of private self-examination this stays my hope and prayer.
“When systems or processes unintentionally result in distress or difficulty for people, whether lay or ordained, it is necessary to pause, reflect and address the basis causes. As a church, with pastoral responsibility at the center of who we’re and what we do, we are able to do higher and we are able to model something higher for a bemused world.”
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the diocese of St Asaph confirmed that Bishop Mason remained an honorary assistant bishop within the Church in Wales — an appointment announced in April (News, 11 April).
She is resulting from preach at a eucharist in St Asaph Cathedral on 14 September, which is a component of the North Wales International Music Festival.
In April, Bishop Mason said that St Asaph had “opened the door upon a recent vista and I look forward with hope to a restored and renewed ministry within the Province of the Church in Wales”.
