Departing Bishop of Sheffield looks back on a time of change

Bishop Steven, aged 58, has succeeded the Rt Revd John Pritchard, who retired from the Oxford role in 2014, creating a two-year vacancy.

The process to appoint a new Bishop of Sheffield will begin soon, and it is likely that a replacement will be announced early next year.

A farewell service has been provisionally booked at Sheffield Cathedral in July.

Bishop Steven, who has been in Sheffield since 2009, has presided over a period of transition in the diocese.

He has led the development of a strategy for evangelism and growth, and has overseen the release of £1 million of reserves for a project aimed at young people.

The Anglican Cathedral has been revamped, and in 2014 the diocese celebrated its centenary.

“I have enjoyed and appreciated almost every part of being bishop. I’m now looking forward to the new challenge and responsibility this move will bring. At the same time I am very sorry to be leaving a diocese and friends and a place I love dearly,” he said.

The bishop said he and his wife Ann have felt ‘very much at home’ in Sheffield. They have lived at Bishopscroft, their house in Ranmoor.

Bishop Steven was a member of the Sheffield Fairness Commission, chairs the city’s Faith Leaders group and is patron of several local charities.

Going to Oxford in autumn will be something of a homecoming. He studied at Oxford University, and he and Ann spent the first years of their married life in the city. The couple also lived there from 2004 to 2009.