The next Bishop of Durham is to be the Ven. Rick Simpson, currently Archdeacon of Auckland, Downing Street announced on Thursday morning.
He succeeds the Rt Revd Paul Butler, who retired in February 2024 (News, 21 July 2023), and takes the reins from the Acting Bishop, the Rt Revd Sarah Clark, Bishop of Jarrow, who was appointed Bishop of Ely last month (News, 30 January).
The news comes almost exactly a year after the announcement that a previous nominee had withdrawn from the process (News, 17 February 2025).
Archdeacon Simpson was educated at Keble College, Oxford, and trained for ordination at Wycliffe Hall. He served his title at St Gabriel’s, Heaton, in Newcastle upon Tyne, from 1993-97, and was Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity, Jesmond, and St Barnabas and St Jude, Newcastle on Tyne, for nine years, until 2006.
He has served in the dioceses of Newcastle and Durham https://t.co/zh6RtGzmjN
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) February 19, 2026
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