THE Archbishop of Canterbury has suspended the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Revd Stephen Conway, from ministry, while a criticism to the National Safeguarding Team is investigated, it was announced on Friday.
A press release on the diocese of Lincoln’s website said that the criticism had also been referred “to the suitable statutory authorities”.
Bishop Conway has been Bishop of Lincoln since 2023 (News, 24 May 2023). For greater than a yr beforehand, he was Acting Bishop of the diocese, along with being Bishop of Ely.
His suspension by the Archbishop of Canterbury follows the House of Bishops’ Code of Practice. The Suffragan Bishop of Grantham, in Lincoln diocese, Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, shall be performing the function of the diocesan Bishop in Bishop Conway’s absence.
The diocesan statement recognised that this is able to be “a deeply unsettling time” for the diocese, and referred anyone concerned to the diocesan safeguarding team, and to the agencies Safe Spaces and ThirtyOneEight, which supply support.
On Sunday, the Bishop of Grantham, Dr Nicholas Chamberlain, who’s now the acting Bishop of Lincoln, and the Bishop of Grimsby, the Rt Revd Jean Burgess, released a pastoral letter to the diocese. This had been done “as soon as we could” after the announcement of Bishop Conway’s suspension, they wrote.
“We each wish to guarantee you of our commitment to you over the following weeks and months, as your bishops. We cannot say any more in regards to the circumstances of Bishop Stephen’s suspension, but we’re in a position to say that he’s being pastorally supported.
“We are committed to the pastoral care and support of victims and complainants when safeguarding allegations are brought forward. Such support is being given by the National Safeguarding Team in reference to the allegation against Bishop Stephen.”
The Bishops promised to serve the diocese “to the very best of our ability” alongside the Archdeacons and Dean of Lincoln.
They continued: “It is the primary Sunday of Lent. These forty days are days for reflection, fasting, penitence and repair. During Lent it’s the Christian’s faith that we shall be restored, ultimately through the sacrificial grace that’s present in the events of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Day. There is at all times hope.
“Lent generally is a hard time, during which we’re tested, and plainly for God’s people within the Diocese of Lincoln this yr that may indeed be the case. But, together, as we love and serve, we imagine that God won’t abandon us. Indeed, it is probably in essentially the most difficult of times that we’ll most assuredly find His mercy and His strength.”
This story was updated on 23 February
