THE Bishop of Southwark since 2011, the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, has announced that he’ll retire in August 2026, when he reaches his seventieth birthday.
Bishop Chessun’s final day in office shall be 4 August; his final service as Bishop shall be held in Southwark Cathedral on 18 July, during which he’ll hand his diocesan crosier to the Area Bishop of Croydon, Dr Rosemarie Mallett, who will function Acting Bishop of Southwark until a everlasting successor is installed.
In a letter to the diocese on Advent Sunday, Bishop Chessun writes that, when he was convalescing after being injured in a taxi last yr (News, 4 October, 2024), Dr Mallett had convened the College of Bishops “with authority and beauty” in an uncertain time. “I’m confident that she’s going to lead a senior team that’s well prepared for this variation — it is an excellent and effective team,” he writes.
Before his elevation to Southwark in 2011, Bishop Chessun was for six years the Area Bishop of Woolwich, and Urban Bishop for the diocese of Southwark.
In his letter, he writes: “I even have had the privilege of serving this Diocese for over twenty years in two episcopal roles, and of sharing the cure of souls with the various excellent clergy who hold my licence. I’m mindful of all that you will have given generously and sacrificially, as clergy and lay people, to strengthen partnerships within the Gospel within the parishes and ministries to which you will have been called. I thank God for you every day, and ask to your prayers in these concluding months.”
Bishop Chessun is the lead bishop for the Middle East, and has visited the region for the reason that war in Gaza began (News, 26 January 2024). He has also led quite a few pilgrimages to the Holy Land. “In recent years I even have a really strong sense of how vital the fact and metaphor of journey and pilgrimage is within the Christian Faith,” he writes. “It is the Way, as we seek together to know God’s loving purposes for us, to talk well of one another, and to honour our Baptism and participation in Christ.”
Among the problems on which Bishop Chessun has spoken within the House of Lords are the rights of migrants and asylum-seekers (News, 16 June 2023), the introduction of assisted dying (News, 19 September), and the lack of winter fuel payments for a lot of pensioners (News, 13 September 2024).
Dr Mallett said on Sunday: “This Diocese has been enormously blessed by Bishop Christopher’s reflective leadership style and pastoral care. Under his guidance, we’ve developed our vision and technique to be sure that we prioritise our parishes and the people we serve. Most of all, he has helped us, though all of the changes and challenges, to all the time remember to talk well of and to one another, and to walk together even when we don’t all the time see eye to eye — and it’s these values that we’ll proceed to honour as we move into the subsequent phase of our diocesan life.”
The diocesan secretary, Nicola Thomas, said that Bishop Chessun “brings great wisdom and insight and, in consequence of his leadership, the Diocese of Southwark stays strong and united as a Christian presence in every community in south London and east Surrey”.
