John Inge


John Geoffrey Inge is a bishop in the Church of England. He is currently the Bishop of Worcester in the Diocese of Worcester. From 2003 to 2008, he was Bishop of Huntingdon, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Ely.

Early life and education

On 26 February 1955, Inge was born to Geoffrey John Inge and Elsie Inge. He was educated at Kent College, an independent school in Canterbury, Kent. He went on to study at St Chad's College, Durham University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1977. That same year Inge performed with Arthur Bostrom at the Edinburgh Festival as part of Durham University Sensible Thespians, which would be renamed the Durham Revue in 1988. In 1979, he undertook teacher training at Keble College, Oxford and received a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.
Having studied chemistry at university and completed teacher training, Inge began his first career as a secondary school teacher. He taught Chemistry at Lancing College, an independent school in Lancing, West Sussex. He also served as a tutor of Teme House, one of the school's boarding houses.
He trained for ordination at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. During his ministry, he returned to Durham University for postgraduate study. He completed a Master of Arts degree in 1994 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2002.

Ordained ministry

Inge was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon at Petertide 1984, by Eric Kemp, Bishop of Chichester, at Chichester Cathedral and as a priest the next year. From 1984 to 1986, he was the assistant chaplain at Lancing College. He was junior chaplain at Harrow School from 1987 to 1989 and senior chaplain from 1989 to 1990. From 1990 to 1996 he was the vicar of St Luke's Wallsend in the Diocese of Newcastle where he also chaired the Board for Mission and Social Responsibility. He became a canon residentiary of Ely Cathedral in 1996 with particular responsibility for education and mission and was then vice dean from 1999 to 2003.

Episcopal ministry

Inge was consecrated a bishop on 9 October 2003 by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey, to serve as Bishop of Huntingdon. As the warden for readers in the Ely diocese he encouraged and equipped lay ministry; he chaired the Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council and co-chaired the East of England Faiths Council. In July 2007 he was nominated to become the Bishop of Worcester from 1 October 2007. He was enthroned at Worcester Cathedral as the Bishop of Worcester on 1 March 2008.

Other work

Inge is chairman of the board of the College of Evangelists. He serves on the Faith and Order Commission of the General Synod. He has served on the council of Ridley Hall, Cambridge since 2008. He was for some years a trustee of Common Purpose UK, a not-for-profit organisation which organises leadership courses across the UK for the public, private and voluntary sectors, and for which he is now a trust protector. He chairs the council for the Archbishop of Canterbury's Examination in Theology which awards the Lambeth Degree — an MA, MPhil or PhD in theology. He is also an advisor for the independent public policy think tank ResPublica.
Inge has led numerous groups to Africa, India, South America, Russia and the Holy Land. Whilst vice dean of Ely Cathedral he established a link between Ely and the Anglican cathedral of Christ Church, Zanzibar and is active in Worcester diocesan links with the Morogoru diocese in the Anglican Church of Tanzania and the Anglican diocese of Peru. He is a longstanding supporter of the World Development Movement which campaigns for justice and development in the Global South, and of Amnesty International.
Inge was introduced in the House of Lords on 25 June 2012 and made his maiden speech three days later on 28 June. He joins his cousin in the Upper House, Peter Inge, a former Chief of Defence Staff. On 15 February 2013 it was announced that he had been appointed to the office of Lord High Almoner,
a post in the royal household.

Personal life

Inge was married to Denise; she died in 2014. Together they had two children. He remarried in January 2018 to Helen Jane Colston.

Honours

In 2011, Inge was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Worcester.

Publications

As well as numerous articles, he is the author of A Christian Theology of Place, which was shortlisted for the Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing, and Living Love: in Conversation with the No 1. Ladies' Detective Agency.

Styles