Bishop of Ebbsfleet
The Bishop of Ebbsfleet is a suffragan bishop who fulfils the role of a provincial episcopal visitor for the western half of the Province of Canterbury in the Church of England.
The See was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council dated 8 February 1994 and licensed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a "flying bishop" to provide episcopal oversight for parishes throughout the province which do not accept the sacramental ministry of bishops who have participated in the ordination of women. The position is named after Ebbsfleet in Thanet, Kent. In the southern province, the Bishops of Ebbsfleet and of Richborough each minister in thirteen of the 40 dioceses. The Bishop of Ebbsfleet serves the western thirteen dioceses. Until the creation of the suffragan See of Richborough in 1995, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet served the entire area of the Province of Canterbury with the exceptions of the Dioceses of London, Rochester and Southwark which came under the oversight of the Bishop of Fulham.
Jonathan Goodall was announced as the fifth Bishop of Ebbsfleet on 2 August 2013. His episcopal consecration took place on 25 September 2013 at Westminster Abbey. He had been the chaplain and ecumenical secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
