What is the Vacancy in See committee?
The Vacancy in See Committee is a standing committee of Diocesan Synod, but only becomes active when the retirement of a diocesan bishop is announced.
The committee is made up of 24 people, including the Diocese’s General Synod representatives, the Chairs of the House of Clergy and House of Laity, the Bishop of Swindon, Archdeacons and elected lay and clergy representatives from across the Diocese.
Once the committee is convened, it has two tasks – to write a Statement of Needs for the Diocese (a document similar to a parish profile) and to elect six of its members to sit on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) alongside six representatives from the National Church.
The Statement of Needs is drafted following considerable consultation across the Diocese, with which we hope as many people as possible will engage.
The CNC is a national Church of England body, which will be responsible for compiling a shortlist of candidates and discerning which nominee should be recommended to the King and Downing Street to be the next Bishop of Bristol.
Current members of the Vacancy in See Committee
| Vacancy in See (ex officio) | Vacancy In See (Elected) | Vacancy in See (nominated by Bishop's Council) |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Brendan Biggs | Canon Richard Bacon | The Revd Anjali Kanagaratnam |
| The Ven Christopher Bryan | The Revd Will Fairbairn | Ms Abby Scott |
| The Revd Kat Campion-Spall | Mrs Caroline Jowett-Ive | |
| Mr Bruce Finnamore | Mr Llewelyn Lawton | |
| The Revd Canon Alice Kemp | Canon Peter Robottom | |
| Mrs Christiana Olomolaiye | The Revd David Stephenson | |
| Mr Ed Shaw | The Revd Rich Cresswell | |
| The Ven Becky Waring | Ms Nathalie Marshall | |
| The Rt Revd Neil Warwick | The Revd Elveen Mead | |
| The Revd Trudie Wigley | Canon Nick Orman | |
| The Very Revd Dr Mandy Ford | Mrs Alison Rowe | |
| Miss Laura Thomas |