The Bishop of Bristol, Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, is pleased to announce that Revd Charles Sutton has been appointed Area Dean of Bristol West.
Charles has been the Vicar of All Saints Clifton since 2015 and prior to that was an Associate Priest in the parish as a Minister in Secular Employment (MSE). He is also the Bishops Adviser on Self Supporting Ministry, a role with which he will continue, in this he also operates on a national level and this year delivered the National SSM Conference at Merton College Oxford.
Following ordination as priest in 1981 Charles was an Assistant Curate in the Diocese of Carlisle and then Head of Centre at Marrick Priory in the (then) Diocese of Ripon where he was also an Associate Priest in the parish of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale.
During the intervening years, before moving back to Bristol, he worked as an Organizational Psychologist, as a practitioner in consultancies in London and Teaching Fellow at Birkbeck College London University.
Charles is married to Helen and has a son, Isaac, and daughter, Angharad.
Looking forward Charles said I am very pleased to have been invited to take this role for several reasons. Not least because Bristol is an exciting and innovative city where people are open to change and opportunity - here in Bristol West there are good opportunities to learn from each other across the various boundaries we place upon ourselves. This is further supported by the Avonside Mission Area which will increasingly provide good learning about sharing vision and ways to enhance co-operation.
There are seven deaneries in the Diocese of Bristol. Area Deans epitomise the connection-making work of the Diocese, collaborating with the Bishops staff team to support the mission and ministry of the parishes.
Bishop Viv said: I am delighted to appoint Charles as Area Dean. He has done so much good work in his ministry at All Saints Clifton and I am grateful that he is willing to step up and serve in this way. We hold Charles in our prayers as he takes on this new responsibility."