Archdeacon of Ipswich

The Archdeacon of Ipswich is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. As such, she or he is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy[1] within its territory.

A few very early Archdeacons of Suffolk were called "Archdeacon of Ipswich". (These are listed at that article.)[2]

The archdeaconry was created from the archdeaconries of Suffolk and of Sudbury by Order-in-Council under King George V on 22 December 1931.[3] On its creation it consisted of the deaneries of Bosmere, Claydon, Hadleigh, Ipswich, North Hartismere, Samford, South Hartismere, and Stow. On Terry Gibson's retirement in 2005 the post was deliberately left vacant pending a pastoral scheme to dissolve the archdeaconry and divide its territory between Sudbury and Suffolk archdeaconries. The scheme could not go forward until the next diocesan bishop (Martin Seeley) was in post, but the area was subsequently under the care of the remaining two archdeacons.[4] In autumn 2018, the archdeaconry was advertised, with a much smaller territory — only the Ipswich deanery — and a brief overseeing church plants and fresh expressions.[5] The archdeaconry is vacant following Rhiannon King's consecration as Bishop of Southampton.

List of archdeacons

• 1932–1945 (ret.): Eric Buckley (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[6]
• 1946–1963 (ret.): Thomas Browne (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[7]
• 1963–1976 (ret.): Charles Hooper (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[8]
• 1976–1986 (res.): Jeremy Walsh (afterwards Bishop suffragan of Tewkesbury)[9]
• 1987 – January 2005 (ret.): Terry Gibson (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[10]

The post was vacant from 2005 to 2019, when it was re-created with different boundaries.

• 25 March 2019 – 18 October 2024 (res.): Rhiannon King[11][12] (became Bishop of Southampton)

References

1. "ABCD: a basic church dictionary" Meakin, T: Norwich, Canterbury Press, 2001 ISBN 978-1-85311-420-5
2. Greenway, Diana E. (1971), Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300, vol. 2, pp. 67–69
3. "No. 33782". The London Gazette. 22 December 1931. pp. 8249–8250.
4. Minutes of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Synod, 10 November 2012 p. 12 (Accessed 13 April 2014)
5. "Archdeacon of Ipswich | CofE Suffolk". www.cofesuffolk.org. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018.
6. "Buckley, Eric Rede". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
7. "Browne, Thomas Robert". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
8. "Hooper, Charles German". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2007 (December 2012 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
9. "Walsh, (Geoffrey David) Jeremy". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
10. "Gibson, Terence Allen". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
11. "New Archdeacon of Ipswich Announced | CofE Suffolk". www.cofesuffolk.org. Archived from the original on 21 December 2018.
12. "Diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 27 April 2022.^[user-generated source]