Martin Wharton

John Martin Wharton , CBE (born August 6, 1944 in Ulverston , England ) is a British Anglican clergyman and was Bishop of Newcastle upon Tyne from 1997 to 2014 .

life and career

Wharton was born to John Wharton and Marjorie Skinner. He attended Van Mildery College in Durham , graduating in 1969 with a Bachelor of Arts . He then attended Linacre College at the University of Oxford , where he made a Bachelor of Theology in 1971 and a Master of Arts in 1976 .

To prepare for the priesthood he attended the Theological College Ripon Hall in Cuddesdon near Oxford from 1969 . He was ordained a deacon in 1972 and a priest in 1973 . He had previously worked in a bank and in the steel industry .

From 1972 to 1975 he was assistant vicar at St. Peter's Church in Birmingham . From 1976 to 1977 he held this office at St. John Church in Croydon . During his time in Croydon, he helped set up Nightwatch Charity , an aid organization for the homeless , and worked as a pastor to help people who lived on the streets.

In the following years he was responsible for the formation of priests . From 1977 to 1983 he was Director of Pastoral Studies at Ripon Hall College . From 1983 to 1992 he was Secretary of the Board of Ministry and Training in Bradford .

From 1984 to 1992 he was an honorary canon at Bradford Cathedral . In 1992 he was canon with residence duty ( Residentiary Canon ) at Bradford Cathedral.

From 1992 to 1997 he was suffragan bishop of Kingston in the Diocese of Southwark . He was Bishop of Newcastle from 1997 to 2014. Wharton retired on November 30, 2014. Christine Hardman was his successor as Diocesan Bishop of Newcastle in September 2015 .

He has been married to Marlene Olive Duckett since 1970. They have a daughter and two sons and a grandson.

Membership in the House of Lords

Wharton was a spiritual lord in the House of Lords from 2002 to 2014 . He gave his inaugural address on May 14, 2003.

His political interests included international relations and environmental protection . On the House of Lords side, he named Botswana , India and Norway as countries of interest .

In January 2008, in a speech in the House of Lords, he was critical of possible financial bottlenecks as a result of the 2012 Olympic Games . Wharton feared that the enormous cost of hosting the Olympics could mean that no funding would be available to support key local projects in each county. In addition to the already limited possibilities of the Northern Rock Foundation, this would hit the north-east of England twice.

Working in public

Wharton takes a liberal stand on questions of canon law. This was particularly evident in his attitude towards the question of homosexuality .

Wharton does not regard homosexuality as a sin in a lasting love relationship. Because of his liberal attitudes Wharton was repeatedly criticized from within his own ranks. In particular, the strongly conservative church network Reform repeatedly directed clear criticism of Wharton's address. Individual clergymen also stated that they would not be ordained a priest by Wharton because they could not support Wharton's attitude towards homosexuality. For example, Ed Moll, later pastor of St. Oswald's Parish Church , declared at his ordination that he felt the bishop's views as an affront to the teachings of the Scriptures .

In June 2003 Wharton was one of the Bishops of the Church of England who expressly supported the nomination and solidarity of Jeffrey John , an openly gay priest in a committed relationship, as Auxiliary Bishop of Reading by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Rowan Williams manifested with the decision of Williams.

However , Wharton has in the past declined formal official blessings from same-sex partnerships .

Wharton's other main areas of activity are business development in North East England, community development and urban renewal . In January 2007 Wharton took part in a discussion on the role of designers, planners, transportation engineers and developers in urban development , among other things .

Wharton was one of the signatories of a declaration on October 7, 2008, calling for the protection of children from emotional and physical violence.

Wharton has been reluctant to suggest that all the bells of churches should ring on St. George's Day . In his opinion, it is not possible to always ring the bells when you want to.

In September 2009 Wharton was one of the concelebrants of the memorial service for the football player and coach Bobby Robson , who died in July . On the occasion of Robson's death Wharton, a big supporter of Newcastle United and holder of a stadium season ticket, had recognized Robson as a "football colossus".

Web links

• John Wharton at Hansard (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Martin Wharton at the Diocese of Newcastle ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 2, 2009 
2. ^ The Venerable Christine Hardman is appointed as Her Majesty's Bishop in the diocese of Newcastle. Official website at 10 Downing Street, September 2, 2015. Accessed October 8, 2015
3. ↑ Martin Wharton on the TheyWorkForYou.com homepage
4. ^ Biography of Martin Wharton on the House of Lords homepage , accessed December 2, 2009
5. ^ Wharton voices Olympics cash fear , Church Times, Jan. 25, 2008
6. ↑ Comment January 1998 TrueShare homepage, accessed December 2, 2009
7. ^ Vicar bars liberal bishop over gays The Independent of April 9, 2000
8. ↑ Letter of Support right. Jeffrey John (PDF file; 54 kB) Homepage www.churchsociety.org, accessed December 12, 2009
9. ^ Church blessing for homosexual vicar The Telegraph of December 22, 2005
10. ^ Promoting better places in the North East Northern Architecture from January 24, 2007
11. ↑ Statement supporters  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. CNNV homepage, accessed December 3, 2009  
12. ^ Only five of England's 44 bishops want the bells to ring out on St George's Day Daily Mail, March 28, 2009
13. ↑ Sir Bobby Robson RIP ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Newcastle United Football Club homepage, accessed December 3, 2009 
14. ↑ The world bids farewell to Sir Bobby Robson  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Backpage Football from September 21, 2009  

predecessor	Office	successor
Peter Selby	Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames 1992–1997	Peter Price
Andrew Graham	Bishop of Newcastle 1997–2014	Christine Hardman