Vacancy in See

With June's announcement that The Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth is to be appointed to the Dean of Windsor, the diocese will enter a Vacancy in See from November 5th. The process to appoint an new Bishop of Coventry is already underway and we hope to keep everyone updated with progress via this page.

There are currently 9 Diocese in England that are in vacancy and the process to appoint a new Bishop usually takes between 12-24 months. Here are some helpful thoughts as we journey through this process.

Updates

17 October 2023
The Vacancy in See Committee have agreed to commission a smaller 'drafting group' to facilitate the creation of the Statement of Needs document for the diocese. The group will work together at two workshops which are planned for Monday 23rd October and Monday 20th November. Please keep the drafting group and these workshops in your prayers. 

The Vacancy in See Committee have also created a prayer for their part of the process. The prayer gathers key thoughts and sentiments from the committee's first social gathering.

Heavenly Father,
As we seek to appoint a new Bishop, we pray you would inspire us as we work together.
Help us to be attentive to your promptings during this time of discernment and by your Holy Spirit lead us on a sure path^a for we are your servants seeking your divine wisdom.
Help us humbly to see as you see, to lay aside our preconceptions and be open to your plans.
Just as you guided the prophet Samuel^b to see more than was apparent in the natural help us too with divine guidance throughout this time of discernment.
Lead us as we pray for your kingdom to come here in our diocese and for Jesus’ name to be honoured.
May grace and reconciliation underlie all we do for our part in this process.
Give us boldness as you draw us to a collective mind for your glory.
Amen

^aPsalm 143:106,126, ^b1 Samuel 16

09 October 2023
As part of this process we would love to hear as many voices as possible from across the diocese and so we’ve put together a very short poll of three questions that we’d love you to take part in. In Jan 2024 the Archbishops’ and Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretaries will be conducting a more comprehensive consultation exercise which will be another opportunity for engagement with the process.

Diocesan wide Poll

27 September 2023
The Committee met twice in September as part of the ViS process.
Firstly, an in person getting to know each other social meeting earlier in the month and on Monday 25th the committee met on Zoom with representatives from the Crown Nominations Committee and Downing Street in attendence.The ViS Commitiee successfully nominated a vice Chair and began to discuss how we would discern the needs of the diocese and on how best to progress with our Statement of Needs document.

Contribute a Prayer
We hope to soak Vacancy in See process in prayer so we would love to feature prayers from many difference voices from across our diocese. Prayers might be featured in the progress updates or even in the eventual Statement of needs document. If you wish to contribute a prayer please email the committee.