Michael Langrish

Michael Laurence Langrish (born July 1, 1946 in Southampton , Hampshire ) is a British Anglican clergyman . He was Bishop of Exeter from 2000 to 2013 .

life and career

Langrish attended the University of Birmingham , where he graduated in history and social sciences in 1967 . This was followed by a one-year teacher training course , which he completed with the Postgraduate Certificate in Education . He then worked as a teacher, including in the East End of London and in Nigeria . At Fitzwilliam College of the University of Cambridge he made a 1973 Bachelor of Arts , and in 1977 a Master of Arts . He studied theology at Ridley Hall College in Cambridge from 1971 .

In 1973 he became a deacon ordained in 1974 priest . From 1973 to 1976 he was assistant vicar at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon and in the Bishopton Ward . From 1976 to 1981 he was chaplain of the Rugby School in Warwickshire . From 1981 to 1987 he was the diocesan director responsible for the formation of candidates for priesthood . He then took over from 1987 to 1993 the pastor's office at St. Andrew's Church in Rugby . At the same time he was canon and priest at Coventry Cathedral from 1990 to 1993 .

In 1993 he became Bishop of Birkenhead in the Diocese of Chester , where he was primarily involved in urban renewal and community development issues. In 2000 he was appointed Bishop of Exeter . Langrish retired at the end of June 2013.

Langrish has held offices in various church organizations. He was chairman of the Church of England Commission on Rural Development. He was also chairman of the Melanesian Mission , an Anglican mission agency that supports local Anglican churches in Melanesia . He was an asset manager and a member of the board of directors of the Christian Aid charity .

In Devon , Langrish is a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Exeter and has served on the university's ethics committee. Since 2000 he has chaired the Devon Strategic Partnership , a community initiative that brings together around 150 partners from public administration, the private sector and the voluntary sector on issues relating to rural development.

Langrish has chaired the Churches Legislative Advisory Service (CLAS), a body made up of major UK- based churches to consult with the government on draft legislation affecting religion and the church. Alastair Redfern was his successor .

Langrish has been married since 1968. He has three children, a son and two daughters.

Membership in the House of Lords

From October 2005 to June 2013, Langrish was a Spiritual Lord in the House of Lords . He gave his inaugural address on November 7, 2005.

Langrish's political interests include rural affairs, education and development aid . He mentions Kenya , the Middle East , especially Israel and Palestine , Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands as states of particular interest .

In July 2009, he was among the members of the House of Lords who opposed a bill legalizing assisted suicide . Langrish emphasized that disabled people in particular would be inflicted further suffering through legalized assisted suicide, which deprived them of the dignity of their own decision.

Working in public

Langrish takes a conservative-liberal position on questions of canon law. This was also evident in his attitude towards the question of homosexuality .

In 2005 he signed an open letter as one of the bishops of the Church of England that the nomination of Jeffrey John , an open homosexual , auxiliary bishop of priest who lived in a committed relationship Reading by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Rowan Williams , rejected. Other signatories also included the bishops of Bradford , Carlisle , Chester , Chichester , Liverpool , Rochester , Southwell and Nottingham and Winchester .

In August 2008, Langrish gave the church's blessing to the civil partnership of a retired pastor who lived with his long-time gardener after the couple had credibly assured him that their relationship was not a sexual relationship. Langrish made it clear that he wanted his blessing to be understood as an affirmation of the longstanding friendship between the two men and that this would not result in ecclesiastical recognition of same-sex marriage .

Langrish is the patron of Positive Action South West , an organization that provides holistic help and advice to AIDS sufferers .

With great public sympathy, Langrish also repeatedly carried out adult baptisms . According to the biblical tradition, Langrish practices the complete immersion of the body in the water.

Together with John Gladwin , then Bishop of Chelmsford , Langrish was one of the main signatories of a declaration in September 2007 calling on the government to work out and secure fair trade conditions for the world's poorest countries as part of development aid.

In October 2007 Langrish criticized the contractual basis and the exploitative price policy of supermarkets towards farmers in clear terms . He emphasized the social responsibility of the church, which is a major investor in the food retail sector.

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

Together with other leading religious representatives in Great Britain, Langrish called on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in January 2009 to work to end the violence in the Gaza Strip . Langrish stated that the killing and destruction must stop immediately because all people, regardless of their religion, are creatures of God. As early as 2002, Langrish, along with John Gladwin , Rowan Williams and David Hope, was one of the Anglican bishops who warned of a military operation in the Middle East in the run-up to the subsequent Iraq war .

On the occasion of the upcoming local elections in Great Britain in June 2009 , Langrish and Tim Thornton , the Bishop of Truro , called in May 2009 on the citizens to exercise their right to vote despite their general political dissatisfaction and despite current political scandals . In the run-up to the elections, several high-ranking British politicians and members of the government came under massive public criticism for unclear expense reports.

In November 2009 Langrish raised in the Second World War by the air raids by the German Luftwaffe on England almost completely destroyed St. Andrew's Church in Plymouth to Münster . With this elevation to the Minster, which took place as part of the 1100th anniversary of the Diocese of Exeter, Langrish recognized the important role that St. Andrew's Church played in the life of the Church in Plymouth, while emphasizing the central role of the Church as a memorial against the war in its historical form.

His church work also focuses on interreligious dialogue and cooperation with Orthodox religious communities and with Islam .

Langrish is also the patron of ICAHD UK, the English section of the Israel Committee against House Demolition .

Web links

• Michael Langrish at Hansard (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Michael Langrish Vita of the Church of England
2. ↑ Bishop of Exeter Michael Langrish retires from office BBC News dated June 30, 2013
3. ↑ Michael Langrish ( Memento December 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Official website of the University of Exeter
4. ↑ Churches Legislative Advisory Service Official website. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
5. ↑ Michael Langrish on the House of Lords homepage
6. ↑ Michael Langrish on the TheyWorkForYou.com homepage
7. ↑ Great Britain: Bill to assist suicide rejected  ( 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. Homepage Zenit from July 10, 2009  
8. ↑ Dioceses divided by the issue that won't go away The Guardian of June 19, 2003
9. ^ Bishop blessed non-sexual gay marriage. Then he found out about the stag and hen do ... Daily Mail online August 6, 2008
10. ↑ Bishop performs his first river baptisms  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Western Morning News dated June 22, 2009  
11. ↑ Christian leaders call for better deal for developing countries ( Memento of the original of July 8, 2008 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. Church of England official website , September 27, 2007 
12. ↑ Church Leader Bishop-slaps Supermarkets ( Memento of the original from January 5, 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. Environmental graffiti dated November 6, 2007 
13. ↑ Churches 'Network for Non-violence (CNNV) (PDF; 21 kB) Anglican Bishops' Statement in support of Equal Protection for Children from October 7, 2008
14. ↑ UK FAITH LEADERS DEMAND GORDON BROWN TAKE FURTHER ACTION TO END GAZA CRISIS Christian Aid from January 6, 2009
15. ^ GB: Churches warn of attack on Iraq Official website of the ORF from August 6, 2002
16. ↑ Brown is dwindling from Handelsblatt on June 3, 2009
17. ↑ Bishops urge people to vote ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2015 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. thisiswesternmorningnews of May 27, 2009 
18. ↑ New status for city's landmark church  ( 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. This is Plymouth official website as of November 20, 2009  
19. ↑ Michael Langrish  ( 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. Homepage of the organization Positive Action South West  
20. ↑ Homepage ICAHD UK  ( 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. , accessed November 26, 2009  

predecessor	Office	successor
Ronald Brown	Bishop of Birkenhead 1993–1999	David Urquhart
Hewlett Thompson	Bishop of Exeter 2000-2003	Robert Atwell