The next Bishop of Bradwell was formally ordained as Bishop in a Service of Consecration led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams, at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday 25 January 2012.
Right Reverend John Wraw will be Installed and welcomed as the fifth Bishop of Bradwell on Sunday, 29 January 2012 in Chelmsford Cathedral.
He has moved to Essex from Wiltshire with his wife, Gillian. Bishop John said: “Walking into St Paul’s Cathedral was an intensely humbling and awesome experience. I much valued the gentle support of the Archbishop of Canterbury and an inspiring sermon by the Bishop of Chelmsford, Right Reverend Stephen Cottrell.“I look forward with much anticipation to beginning my ministry in the Bradwell Episcopal Area.
I have already met many committed and gifted lay people and clergy across the Area. “This is an exciting time to be coming to the Diocese of Chelmsford. Together we are called to live out the gracious love and generosity of God in the towns and villages and communities across Essex and East London.”
Read the Bishop of Chelmsford’s sermon.
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Further information:
The Installation Service on Sunday 29 January 2012 is the service at which Bishop John will become the Bishop of Bradwell. Admission to the Installation is by ticket only and places have been reserved.
The media are welcome to attend. Enquiries should be made by phone to 01245 294488 please.
The Episcopal Area of Bradwell, within the Diocese of Chelmsford, covers the towns of Basildon, Tilbury Docks, Southend-on-Sea, Maldon, Brentwood and Chelmsford, as well as the rural areas of the Dengie peninsular where a stone chapel was built by St Cedd in 654 AD at Bradwell.
It is served by the Archdeacon of Southend, nine rural or area deans, 170 clergy and 105 lay readers. Some 14,350 people are on church electoral rolls and there are 40 church schools.
Bishop John succeeds Right Reverend Dr Laurie Green who served as the fourth Bishop of Bradwell from February 1993 to February 2011. John is married to Gillian and they have four children. John was first ordained in 1985 and served as curate in Bromyard in Herefordshire.
He moved to Sheffield as team vicar on Arbourthorne – a large council estate on the south side of Sheffield. It was here that John began his involvement in community development and social justice.
He and his family moved to Rotherham in 1992 where he became vicar of a large urban priority area parish near the town centre. During his nine years in Clifton John helped the church develop its buildings as a family centre, working in partnership with the local further education college and the local Kashmiri community.
He also helped the local churches to develop a family support project. Through his community involvement he was invited to join the board of the Rotherham Strategic Partnership, chairing the Community Involvement and Development Spoke. This was particularly focused on enabling the voluntary sector and local community groups to engage with the partnership.
John also chaired Voluntary Action Rotherham – the lead voluntary and community sector body in the town. John was appointed Area Dean of Rotherham in 1998 and made an Honorary Canon of Sheffield Cathedral in 2001.
Alongside his parochial responsibilities John chaired the Faith and Justice Committee in the Diocese of Sheffield, taking lead responsibility for engagement with public life, social concerns and wider community links.In 2004 John was appointed Archdeacon of Wilts in the Diocese of Salisbury.
He led on health issues across the diocese and links with public life within Wiltshire.
He was a board member of the County Local Strategic Partnership for four years and when it was re-launched as the Wiltshire Assembly in 2008 was invited to become the first chair.