Church Army Welcomes Next Bishop of Oxford

Downing Street recently announced that the next Bishop of Oxford will be the Rt Rev John Pritchard, currently Suffragan Bishop of Jarrow and a Church Army board member.

"Bishop John is a valued member of the Church Army Board and serves as Chair of the Wilson Carlile College of Evangelism Council," says Mark Russell, Church Army's chief executive. "He has made a vital contribution to ensuring that our evangelists are equipped to inhabit the cutting edge of modern mission. Bishop John has a real passion for mission and I am delighted to hear of this appointment."

Speaking in Share It! Church Army's supporter magazine Bishop John adds, "I think the task of a Bishop in the Church is to be a leader in mission. I hope that everything I do connects with my desire to share in the overflow of God's love into his world - though sometimes the connection seems a bit remote."

Mr Russell, the youngest ever Chief Executive of the Church Army, was commissioned last month by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

Mark Russell, 32, became the eighth man to hold the office of Chief Executive of Church Army since it was founded by Rev Wilson Carlile in 1882.

A packed service at St Michael's Church, Chester Square in London on 9 November, heard the Archbishop commission Russell with a request that God would "stir up in him the gifts of God's grace and be enflamed by the power of the Holy Spirit".