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New Bishop of Taunton announced

News from The Diocese of Bath and Wells  - 2 October 2006

The new Bishop of Taunton is to be the Venerable Peter Maurice, the present Archdeacon of Wells.

He will be consecrated in December and will be welcomed back to the Diocese of Bath and Wells as a Bishop at a special service in Wells Cathedral.

Peter aged 55, who was appointed Archdeacon three years ago, said "I still have an absolute passion for ministry that I will bring to my new job".

He added: "These are very exciting times for the Church. As an Archdeacon I have been very involved in our diocesan strategy for ministry and mission - Changing Lives, Changing Churches for Changing Communities - and I am totally committed to it, and believe it brings great hope for the future.

"Changing Lives gives people permission to have a go at things and develop new ways of ministry. I am excited by that".

Peter is married to Liz, a primary school teacher, and they have three children, Tom, aged 26, Ruth, 24, and James, 17.

Peter, Vicar of All Saints', Tooting for seven years before his appointment as Archdeacon, is a gradute of St Chad's, Durham and was trained for the ministry at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. He was ordained deacon in 1972 and Priest in 1976.

He had a wide ranging parish ministry in Southwark Diocese and was at one time Rural Dean of Bermondsey and was also the Local Ministry Adviser.

His work as a Parish Priest gave him wide experience of multi-faith, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural concerns.

He said "Though ours is generally regarded as a rural diocese most of the people live in towns and I bring a wide ranging urban experience to the job. I want to remain in touch with my urban roots and I believe I have something to contribute to some of our fast expanding towns such as Yeovil and Weston-Super-Mare."

"My other concerns include a passion for racial justice and I will be able to play my part in the interfaith dialogue which is an essential part of life today".

Peter succeeds as Bishop of Taunton, the Rt.Revd Andrew Radford who died earlier this year.

The Bishop of Taunton is suffragan to the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

BIOGRAPHY
The new Bishop of Taunton, the Venerable Peter Maurice, was born in Kenley, just outside Croydon in Surrey, the middle of three boys.

His degree at St Chad's, Durham was in Biblical Studies and modern history.

He worked for a year as Assistant Warden with the Richmond Fellowship in a therapeutic community for recovering alcoholics before training for the ministry at the College of the Resurrection, Mirield.

After ordination his first appointment was as Assistant Curate St Paul's Wimbledon Park, Wandsworth.

He then went on to serve as Team Vicar All Saints East Sheen (Parish of Mortlake and East Sheen), then Vicar of Holy Trinity Rotherhithe (also Rural Dean of Bermondsey) and finally Vicar of All Saints Tooting where he was also the assistant Diocesan Director for Ordinands for Southwark for 6 years.

Peter enjoys all things sporting and is an especially keen follower of West Ham United though he has not been able to see the Hammers play live for about a year.

He also admits to being an avid television watcher and particularly enjoys Eastenders.

Outdoor pursuits include bird watching "though I don't know enough to be called a twitcher" he said.

He particularly enjoys travel and has recently returned from a family holiday driving through France (he managed 2000 miles in just 9 days).

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