The Right Reverend Alexander Graham, Bishop of Newcastle gifted with both theological and pastoral skills – obituary
Graham moved North just as economic depression was taking a heavy toll and clergy morale was sinking but he quickly won people’s confidence
12 May 2021 • 5:02pm
Alec Graham, Bishop of Newcastle, with the Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey after giving a talk on the Mystery of Salvation, after the publication of a report by the Church of England’s Doctrine Commission which he chaired (1996)
Credit: Brian Smith
The Right Reverend Alexander Graham, who has died aged 91, was Bishop of Newcastle from 1981-97 and before that spent four years as Suffragan Bishop of Bedford.
Father Langham pouring prosecco at the terrace of Fisher House, the chaplaincy in Cambridge, 2016
Mgr Mark Langham, who has died aged 60, was until recently Chaplain of Fisher House, the Catholic Chaplaincy to the University of Cambridge, and a former administrator of Westminster Cathedral. He was one of the outstanding Catholic priests of his generation, and his early death has robbed the Church of one who would surely have played a major role in future years.
He was born in London on November 28 1960 and educated at the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School near Holland Park. Feeling strongly called to the priesthood, he wanted to enter the seminary, but was advised by Cardinal Hume to go to university and see something of the world first.
Canon John Nurser, scholarly priest who joined Lincoln Cathedral Chapter at a time of discord – obituary
Nurser was respected for his intellectual and pastoral skills but the conflict at Lincoln between Chapter and Dean became a national scandal
Canon John Nurser
Canon John Nurser, who has died aged 91, exercised a useful ministry in which intellectual and pastoral skills were generally combined. He will, however, be best remembered for his involvement in an extraordinary conflict within the leadership of Lincoln Cathedral. This became a national scandal and proved to be one of the most unhappy periods in the long history of one of Western Europe’s most beautiful buildings.
Christopher Campling
The Very Reverend Christopher Campling, who has died aged 95, was Dean of Ripon from 1984 to 1995 and before that spent eight years as Archdeacon of Dudley and Director of Religious Education in the diocese of Worcester.
He was ideally suited to the leadership of one of the smaller cathedrals with strong local responsibilities, since he had also spent eight years as Vicar of Pershore Abbey and earlier, as a public school chaplain, had learned how to relate effectively to a demanding community.
He belonged to the liberal wing of his church, was keen on ecumenism and strongly supported both the ordination of women to the priesthood and the re-marriage in church of divorcees.