John Inge - Ministry

Ministry

He read and taught chemistry prior to ordination and from 1984 to 1986 he was Assistant Chaplain at Lancing College. He was Junior Chaplain at Harrow School from 1987 to 1989, and Senior Chaplain from 1989 to 1990. From 1990 to 1996 he was Vicar of Wallsend, St Luke in the diocese of Newcastle where he also chaired the Board for Mission and Social Responsibility. He became Canon Residentiary of Ely Cathedral in 1996 with particular responsibility for education and mission, and was Vice Dean from 1999 until his consecration as suffragan Bishop of Huntingdon at Westminster Abbey on 9 October 2003. As Warden of Readers in Ely diocese he encouraged and equipped lay ministry; he chaired the Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council and co-chaired the East of England Faiths Council. In July 2007 he was nominated to be Bishop of Worcester from 1 October 2007. He was enthroned as the 113th Bishop of Worcester on Saturday 1 March 2008.

He is Chairman of the board of The College of Evangelists. He serves on the Faith and Order Commission (FAOC) of the General Synod. He has served on the Council of Ridley Hall, Cambridge since 2008. He was for some years a trustee of Common Purpose UK, a not-for-profit organisation that runs leadership courses across the UK for the public, private and voluntary sectors, and for which he is now a Trust Protector. He chairs the council for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Examination in Theology which awards the Lambeth Degree—an MA, MPhil or PhD in theology. He is also an advisor for the independent public policy think tank ResPublica.

Bishop John has led numerous groups to Africa, India, South America, Russia and the Holy Land. Whilst vice dean of Ely Cathedral he established a link between Ely and the Anglican Cathedral of Christ Church, Zanzibar and is active in Worcester Diocescan links with Morogoru diocese in the Anglican Church of Tanzania, and the Anglican diocese of Peru. He is a longstanding supporter of the World Development Movement which campaigns for justice and development in the Global South, and of Amnesty International.

In 2011 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Worcester. He was introduced into the House of Lords on 25 June 2012 and made his maiden speech three days later on the 28 June. He joins his cousin in the Upper House Field Marshal Peter Anthony Inge, Baron Inge, KG, GCB, PC, DL a former Chief of Defence Staff.