The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contains more church buildings than any other diocese and has more paid clergy than any other except London.
The diocese now covers the counties of Berkshire (118 churches), Buckinghamshire (152 churches), Oxfordshire (227 churches) and five churches in the nearby counties. Their 284 schools educate more than 68,000 students.
History
The Diocese of Oxford was created by letters patent from Henry VIII on 1 September 1542, out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln. Osney Abbey was designated the original cathedral, but in 1545 this was changed to St Frideswide's Priory which became Christ Church Cathedral.
In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford. This comprises the county of Berkshire and parts of Wiltshire.
An Order in Council of 1837 transferred the Archdeaconry of Buckingham from the Diocese of Lincoln.
In 2013 and 2014, the Diocese of Oxford discussed and resolved to undertake some pastoral alterations; the new archdeaconry of Dorchester was created on 1 March 2014. On 3 March 2014, it was announced that Judy French would become the first Archdeacon of Dorchester from June 2014.
Bishops
The diocesan Bishop of Oxford is assisted by the area bishops of Dorchester, Buckingham, and Reading. The suffragan See of Buckingham was created in 1914, and was the suffragan bishopric for the whole diocese until 1939 when the See of Dorchester was created; the See of Reading was re-created in 1942, after having been 'in abeyance' since 1909.
The provincial episcopal visitor (for Anglo-Catholic parishes in the diocese – among twelve other dioceses in the western part of the Province of Canterbury – which do not accept the ordination of women as priests) is the Bishop of Oswestry, who is licensed as an honorary assistant bishop of the diocese in order to facilitate his ministry in the diocese. Conservative evangelicals who reject the ordination and/or leadership of women due to complementarian beliefs, receive alternative episcopal oversight from the Bishop of Ebbsfleet.
Several retired bishops resident in or near the diocese are licensed to serve as honorary assistant bishops. :
- Since 2010: Anthony Russell, former Bishop of Ely and area Bishop of Dorchester, lives in Holton.
- Since 2010: Henry Scriven, Mission Director for Latin America (CMS) and former Assistant Bishop in Pittsburgh and Suffragan Bishop in Europe, lives in Abingdon-on-Thames and is also licensed in Chichester and Winchester dioceses.
- Since 2013: David Jennings, retired former Bishop suffragan of Warrington, lives in Northleach, Gloucestershire and is also licensed in Gloucester diocese.
- Since 2013: John Went, former Bishop suffragan of Tewkesbury, lives in Latimer.
George Carey (retired Archbishop of Canterbury) lives in the diocese and was an honorary assistant bishop, but resigned his licence following his implication in the Peter Ball abuse case, and Humphrey Southern, former Bishop suffragan of Repton, is the Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon.
Current extent
thumb|300px|right|Map of the [[dioceses of the Church of England showing Oxford Diocese in mauve]]
Counties
The diocese now covers the counties of
- Berkshire (118 churches)
- Buckinghamshire (152 churches)
- Oxfordshire (227 churches)
and has
- three churches in the county of Bedfordshire
- one church in the traditional county of Middlesex
- one church in the county of Hampshire
Episcopal areas
Since the creation of an area scheme in 1984, the diocese has been divided into three episcopal areas. The Bishop of Oxford has authority throughout the diocese, but also has primary responsibility for the city and suburbs of Oxford, which form the Archdeaconry of Oxford.
- City of Oxford and surrounding area (Archdeaconry of Oxford)
- current Bishop of Oxford: Steven Croft
- includes Deaneries of Oxford and Cowley
- Dorchester Episcopal Area (Archdeaconry of Dorchester)
- current area Bishop of Dorchester: Gavin Collins
- includes Deaneries of Aston & Cuddesdon, Bicester & Islip, Chipping Norton, Deddington, Henley, Witney and Woodstock
- Buckingham Episcopal Area (Archdeaconry of Buckingham)
- current area Bishop of Buckingham: Dave Bull
- includes Deaneries of Amersham, Aylesbury, Buckingham, Burnham & Slough, Claydon, Milton Keynes, Mursley, Newport, Wendover and Wycombe
- Reading Episcopal Area (Archdeaconry of Berkshire)
- current area Bishop of Reading: Mary Gregory
- includes Deaneries of Abingdon, Bracknell, Bradfield, Maidenhead & Windsor, Newbury, Reading, Sonning, Vale of White Horse, Wallingford and Wantage
Archdeaconries and deaneries
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Episcopal area
!Archdeaconries
! Rural Deaneries
! Paid clergy
! Churches
! Population
!People/clergy
!People/church
!Churches/clergy
|-
| rowspan="2" |Oxford Episcopal Area<br /><small>(Bishop of Oxford)</small>
| rowspan="2" | Archdeaconry of Oxford
| Deanery of Oxford
| 34*
|26*
|68,686*
|2,020
| 2,642
|0.76
|-
|Deanery of Cowley
|15
| 17
| 104,650
|6,977
| 6,156
|1.13
|-
| rowspan="11" |Dorchester Episcopal Area <br /><small>(area Bishop of Dorchester)</small>
| rowspan="11" |Archdeaconry of Dorchester
|Deanery of Abingdon
|14
|27
|66,687
|4,763
|2,470
|1.93
|-
|Deanery of Aston & Cuddesdon
| 18
| 51
| 54,913
| 3,051
| 1,077
|2.83
|-
|Deanery of Bicester & Islip
|10
|39
| 51,494
| 5,149
|1,320
| 3.9
|-
|Deanery of Chipping Norton
| 9
|30
|23,903
| 2,656
| 797
|3.33
|-
| Deanery of Deddington
| 14
| 34
| 66,505
| 4,750
| 1,956
| 2.43
|-
|Deanery of Henley
|9
|25
| 36,686
| 4,076
|1,467
| 2.78
|-
|Deanery of Vale of White Horse
|6
|27
|19,494
|3,249
|722
|4.5
|-
|Deanery of Wallingford
|10
|19
|47,500
|4,750
|2,500
|1.9
|-
|Deanery of Wantage
|5
|16
|24,685
|4,937
|1,543
|3.2
|-
|Deanery of Witney
|13
|38
|63,884
|4,914
|1,681
|2.92
|-
|Deanery of Woodstock
|9
|24
|25,404
|2,823
|1,059
|2.67
|-
| rowspan="10" |Buckingham Episcopal Area <br /><small>(area Bishop of Buckingham)</small>
| rowspan="10" |Archdeaconry of Buckingham
| Deanery of Amersham
| 23
| 31
| 111,702
| 4,857
| 3,603
|1.35
|-
|Deanery of Aylesbury
| 19
|37
| 104,369
| 5,493
| 2,821
| 1.95
|-
| Deanery of Buckingham
| 6
| 22
| 21,214
| 3,536
|964
|3.67
|-
| Deanery of Burnham & Slough
| 20
|31
| 193,635
|9,682
|6,246
|1.55
|-
| Deanery of Claydon
| 5
| 25
| 21,125
| 4,225
| 845
| 5
|-
| Deanery of Milton Keynes
| 15
| 29
| 213,304
| 14,220
| 7,355
| 1.93
|-
|Deanery of Mursley
| 5
| 20
| 21,444
| 4,289
|1,072
|4
|-
| Deanery of Newport
| 5
| 22
| 32,175
| 6,435
| 1,463
| 4.4
|-
|Deanery of Wendover
|8
|22
|35,262
|4,408
|1,603
|2.75
|-
|Deanery of Wycombe
|18
|36
|150,610
|8,367
|4,184
|2
|-
| rowspan="6" |Reading Episcopal Area <br /><small>(area Bishop of Reading)</small>
| rowspan="6" |Archdeaconry of Berkshire
|Deanery of Bracknell
|11
|19
|103,874
|9,443
|5,467
|1.73
|-
|Deanery of Bradfield
|9
|26
|36,891
|4,099
|1,419
|2.89
|-
|Deanery of Maidenhead & Windsor
|20
|24
|110,456
|5,523
|4,602
|1.2
|-
|Deanery of Newbury
|16
|40
|96,347
|6,022
|2,409
|2.5
|-
|Deanery of Reading
|36
|35
|245,892
|6,830
|7,025
|0.97
|-
|Deanery of Sonning
|20
|24
|112,039
|5,602
|4,668
|1.2
|-
| colspan="3" |Total/average
| 403
|816
|2,264,830
|5,620
|2,776
|2.02
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>including Cathedral
Churches
Outside deanery structures
{| class="wikitable"
!Benefice
!Churches!!Clergy!!Population served
!Ref
|-
| Cathedra
|
- Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
|
- Dean: Sarah Foot
- Sub-Dean: Peter Moger
- Canon: Carol Harrison
- Canon: Graham Ward
- Canon: Sally Welch
| 512
|
|}
Deanery of Oxford
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Benefice
! Churches
! Link
! Clergy
! Population served
|-
| Kidlington (St Mary the Virgin) with Hampton Poyle
|
- St Mary the Virgin, Kidlington
- St Mary the Virgin, Hampton Poyle
- St John the Baptist, South Kidlington
| [http://www.parishofkidlington.org.uk/index.htm]
|
- Team Rector: Felicity Scroggie
- Team Vicar: Martin Davis
- Curate: Laura Biron-Scott
| 14,850
|
|-
| Osney (St Frideswide)
|
- St Frideswide, Osney
- SS Peter & Paul, Botley
- St Lawrence, North Hinksey
- St Margaret of Antioch, Binsey
| [https://www.osneybenefice.org.uk/]
|
- Rector: Clare Sykes
- Curate: Katherine Seagrave
- SSM: Martin Henig
- SSM: Jo Moffett-Levy
| 7,245
|
|-
| Oxford (St Aldate)
|
- St Aldate, Oxford
| [https://staldates.org.uk/]
|
- Rector: Charlie Cleverly
- Pastorate Chaplain: Simon Ponsonby
- Curate: Will Donaldson
- Curate: Tim Bateman
- SSM: Mark Brickman
- SSM: Christopher Landau
- SSM: Daniel Hames
| 727
|
|-
| Oxford (St Andrew)
|
- St Andrew, Oxford
| [https://www.standrewsoxford.org/]
|
- Vicar: Dan Heyward
- Curate: Paul White
- Curate: James Dwyer
- SSM: Elizabeth Pitkethly
| 2,991
|
|-
| Oxford (St Barnabas and St Paul) (St Thomas the Martyr)
|
- St Barnabas, Oxford
- St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford
| [http://sbarnabas.org.uk/]
|
- Vicar: Vacant
- Curate: Susan Gillingham
| 5,583
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | Oxford (St Ebbe with Holy Trinity and St Peter-Le-Bailey)
|
- St Ebbe, Oxford
| [https://stebbes.org/]
| rowspan="2" |
- Rector: Vaughan Roberts
- Curate: Pete Wilkinson
- Curate: Joel Knight
- Curate: Matt Pope
- Curate: Leon Catallo
- SSM: James Poole
- SSM: John Miller
| rowspan="2" | 1,443
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|
- St Ebbe's Headington<sup>1</sup>
|[https://www.stebbesheadington.org.uk/]
|-
| rowspan="2" | Oxford (St Giles) St Philip and St James (St Margaret)
|
- St Giles, Oxford
| [http://www.st-giles-church.org/stgiles/]
| rowspan="2" |
- Vicar: Anthony Bunch
- Curate: Tom Albinson
| rowspan="2" | 7,885
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|
- St Margaret, Oxford
|[https://www.stmargaretsoxford.org/]
|-
| Oxford (St Mary Magdalen)
|
- St Mary Magdalen, Oxford
| [https://www.stmarymagdalenoxford.org.uk/]
|
- Vicar: Peter Groves
- Curate: Jarred Mercer
- SSM: Jonathan Jong
| 1,176
|
|-
| Oxford (St Mary the Virgin) (St Cross Or Holywell) (St Peter in the East)
|
- St Mary the Virgin, Oxford
| [https://www.universitychurch.ox.ac.uk/]
|
- Vicar: William Lamb
- Curate: James Crockford
- SSM: Charlotte Bannister-Parker
- SSM: Alan Ramsey
| 5,229
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | Oxford (St Matthew)
|
- St Matthew, Oxford
| [https://www.stmatthewsoxford.org.uk/]
| rowspan="2" |
- Rector: Steve Hellyer
- Curate: Stephen Tuck
- SSM: Timothy Bradshaw
- SSM: Jane Lees
- SSM: Mike Rayner
| rowspan="2" | 3,154
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|
- St Luke, Oxford
|[https://www.stlukesoxford.org.uk/]
|-
| Oxford (St Michael At the North Gate with St Martin and All Saints)
|
- St Michael at the North Gate, Oxford
| [http://www.smng.org.uk/wp/]
|
- Vicar: Anthony Buckley
| 1,155
|
|-
| Summertown (St Michael and All Angels)
|
- St Michael & All Angels, Summertown
| [https://www.stmichaels-summertown.org.uk/]
|
- Vicar: Gavin Knight
- SSM: William Pryor
| 7,840
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | Wolvercote (St Peter) and Wytham
|
- St Peter, Wolvercote
| [https://www.stpeterswolvercote.org/]
| rowspan="2" |
- Vicar: Kate Tuckett
- Associate Priest: William Whyte
| rowspan="2" | 6,415
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|
- All Saints, Wytham
|[https://www.wytham-church.org.uk/]
|}
<sup>1</sup>situated within the area covered by the Cowley deanery
Deanery of Cowley
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Benefice
! Churches
! Link
! Clergy
! Population served