The Right Revd Michael Hill.htm

Michael Hill

IN a move which surprised many by its comparative speed, the Right Revd Michael Hill has been named as the 55th Bishop of Bristol.
The announcement, made simultaneously by the diocese and Downing Street at 11am on Tuesday December 17, pleased those who feared that no decision would be taken before Christmas.
Nevertheless, it still seems likely to be early summer before Bishop Barry Rogerson's successor takes up his post. Aged 53, he is currently Area Bishop of Buckingham in the Oxford Diocese.
That diocese has also been significant in the career of our Suffragan Bishop, Michael Doe of Swindon, and the two worked quite closely together on youth projects at one time.

Those who think one Bishop Michael is enough for any diocese will be pleased to hear that our new leader is known as Bishop Mike, and wishes to continue to be.
He and his wife of 30 years, Anthea, who is a palliative care nurse, have four daughters and a son, ranging in age from 26 to 16.

His rise through the ranks in Oxford was swift. He arrived as a curate in Slough in 1981, and by 1992 he was Archdeacon of Berkshire; his appointment as Bishop of Buckingham came in 1998.
Grammar school educated in Wilmslow - the affluent south Manchester town famously declared by its vicar to be the most Godless in the country - he went on to the North West Cheshire further education college for a diploma in business studies. His first job was as a junior executive in the printing industry.
In 1974 he went to Cambridge to study for the ministry at Ridley Hall and Fitzwilliam College, and there was a brief curacy in the Canterbury diocese before his move to Oxford.
After two years in his Slough curacy he moved in 1983 to be Priest-in-Charge (1983-90) and Rector (to 1992) of Chesham Bois St Leonards, taking on the role of Rural Dean of Amersham in his final three years there.

Keen interests include business, commerce and education, and he comes to Bristol with a formidable reputation for his skills in leadership.
As a preacher and teacher he stresses a commitment to mission. "It's critical to seek to show that Christianity has something strong to contribute to the whole debate about spirituality," he says.
Our diocese's name for advancing the cause of women priests seems set to continue under him, since he was at the heart of Oxford Diocese's recent decision to appoint a female Archdeacon.
For leisure he plays tennis and enjoys watching soccer and rugby. Like half the people in the south of England he supports Manchester United, but he at least has the rare excuse of being from that part of the world.

Bishop Mike's other interests include reading theology and novels and walking his dog Bella, for whom the splendid Bishop's House garden awaits.
Her master's horizons extend rather beyond that. "I feel very humble and privileged to be chosen to serve God in such an exciting city and diocese," says our new Bishop.

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