Dear St Bartholomew’s,
I write today to give the diocese notice of my intended retirement as Bishop of Oxford on 31 July 2026, with the permission of His Majesty the King. My final service as Bishop will be on 31 May in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, at 5pm. It has been and remains an immense joy and privilege to serve as Bishop of Oxford, and I am deeply thankful for God’s grace in so many different people and communities across the diocese.
My main concern in the timing of my own retirement has been a desire to leave the strongest possible team in place to lead the diocese forward into the future.
Bishop Gavin will be Acting Bishop of Oxford for the vacancy. Bishop Gavin has now been in post as Bishop of Dorchester since 2021 and is very well qualified to lead the team through this period. By May of next year, Bishops Mary and Dave will have been in post for 15 months and have already been a great blessing to the diocese. We have a remarkable team of heads of department, led by Mark Humphriss, Archdeacons and Associates, and a gifted team in Christ Church, led by Dean Sarah.
My own retirement from this role will come shortly after my sixty-ninth birthday and therefore in my seventieth year. By God’s grace, it will mark exactly a decade as Bishop of Oxford and 17 years as a diocesan bishop in two very different dioceses, including 13 years as a member of the House of Lords.
This has been and remains an enormously privileged role in which I have learned so much from so many lay and ordained colleagues, past and present. I am deeply thankful for the ministries of all the people called to sustain the life and mission of churches, chaplaincies and schools across Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. I have appreciated countless opportunities to interact with a variety of civic, university and faith leaders across our three counties.
The wise convention is for retiring diocesan bishops to move away from the diocese where they have served. Ann and I have made plans relocate to St Albans, close to two of our children and their families and within relatively easy reach of the rest of our nine grandchildren. I’m planning to continue to write, to offer ministry and to work in some capacity, but not at the same intensity as my present role requires.
When the time comes, I will miss the life of the diocese and its people and life very much indeed. Ann and I will particularly miss the city of Oxford, where we met and were married, and where we have lived in three separate and very happy chapters of our lives. We have come to know the churches and people of the city particularly well in my role as Area Bishop for the city. Ann will also miss her parish community in Kidlington and Hampton Poyle and her long-term involvement in Kidlinks, the parent and toddler network.
It will be very much business as usual in terms of the normal rhythms of work for me in the next six months. The process of prayer and discerning the person called to be the next Bishop of Oxford will begin immediately with meetings of the Vacancy in See Committee and a process of consultation. The diocese will publish details of this later this week.
I hope there will be opportunity for many conversations in the coming months. Thank you so much for your prayers and your partnership in the gospel. It has been an enormous privilege to serve in ordained ministry continuously for over 40 years, as Vicar of Ovenden in Halifax, Warden of Cranmer Hall, Archbishops’ Missioner, and Bishop of Sheffield and Oxford.
I have had a growing sense throughout that journey of the call of the Church to be more Christ-like, to be the Church of the Beatitudes, more contemplative, compassionate and courageous. I have held to a deep vision that the Church of England should become again a Church which teaches the Christian faith confidently and well to the people of England, seeing new disciples formed in Christ. I hope as many parishes and individuals as possible will join me in the journey through Lent next year for Come and See as we discover the ways we encounter Jesus in the Eucharist (sign up details are below).
Thank you for all your patience and support across the years. Know that you are loved and called by God perfectly and eternally, and that Christ who calls you will sustain you by his Spirit into all the future holds
With love in Christ,
The Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford
bishopstevencroft.substack.com