After seven years as the Bishop of Ramsbury, the Rt Revd Dr Andrew Rumsey is to leave the Diocese of Salisbury to be the next Bishop of St Albans, 10 Downing Street has announced this morning.
In moving to St Albans, Bishop Andrew will return home to the diocese where he spent his childhood, and where his father served as a parish priest.
In a message to congregations and communities across Wiltshire, he said: “With the announcement today that I am to be the next Bishop of St Albans, I want to express my deep gratitude for these seven years in the Diocese of Salisbury. The See of Ramsbury has been dear to me, and I will miss you all greatly.
“With this appointment, I shall be returning to serve the diocese that formed me: a wonderful new responsibility for which I ask your prayers in the weeks ahead. May God bless you and keep you.”
The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Stephen Lake, said: “This is good news for the Diocese of St. Albans, though very sad for us. Bishop Andrew has been a dearly loved and active Bishop of Ramsbury, and we will miss him hugely. It is though one of those powerful 'calling home' moments, and I pray that Bishop Andrew and his family, and those he cares for as diocesan bishop, will flourish.
“In this diocese, we shall say farewell at an Evensong in Salisbury Cathedral on April 30 to which everyone is welcome.”
A theologian, writer and musician, Bishop Andrew is known and loved for his deep listening and pastoral skills, as well as his inspirational preaching, but he has also released a series of three albums recorded in a single day in historic Wiltshire churches. He is the Church of England’s lead bishop for Church and Cathedral Buildings, and a trustee of the National Churches Trust and the Churches Conservation Trust.
Bishop Andrew is married to Rebecca, and they have three adult children.