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The Right Reverend Paul Bayes
Bishop of Liverpool
Bayes in 2016
Church	Church of England
Diocese	Liverpool
In office	2014–2022
Predecessor	James Jones
Successor	John Perumbalath
Other post(s)	Bishop of Hertford (2010–2014)
Orders
Ordination	1979 (deacon); 1980 (priest) by Ronnie Bowlby
Consecration	21 September 2010
Personal details
Born	(1953-11-02) 2 November 1953 (age 71) Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Spouse	Kate ​(m. 1976)​
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Birmingham Queen's College, Birmingham

Paul Bayes (born 1953) is an English Anglican retired bishop. He served as Bishop of Hertford, a suffragan bishop in the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans from 2010 to 2014, and then as Bishop of Liverpool from 2014 to 2022.

Early life

Bayes was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 2 November 1953, and attended Belle Vue Boys School in the city, He studied drama at the University of Birmingham before studying for ordination at Queen's College, Edgbaston.

Ordained ministry

Bayes was ordained in the Church of England, made a deacon at Petertide 1979 (1 July) and as a priest the Petertide following (29 June 1980), both times by Ronnie Bowlby, Bishop of Newcastle, at Newcastle Cathedral. He was an assistant curate at St Paul's Church, Whitley Bay for three years (1979–1982). He then became a university chaplain in west London from 1982 to 1987.

Bayes moved to High Wycombe for seven years where he initially as Team Vicar (1987–1990) and then Team Rector (1990–1994) before becoming Team Rector of Totton for nine years (1995–2004). While he was at Totton, Bayes was also the Area Dean of Lyndhurst from 2000. Upon leaving Totton, he joined the Archbishops' Council staff team as National Mission and Evangelism Adviser until his ordination to the episcopacy. He was also an honorary canon at Worcester Cathedral from 2007 until his consecration.

Episcopal ministry

On 7 July 2010 it was announced that Bayes would succeed Christopher Foster as Bishop of Hertford upon Foster's translation to Portsmouth. Bayes was duly consecrated a Church of England bishop on 21 September 2010 at St Paul's Cathedral and installed at St Albans Cathedral on 25 September 2010.

On 7 May 2014 it was announced that Bayes was to become the next (8th) Bishop of Liverpool; his canonical election was confirmed on 23 July 2014. Bayes was installed at Liverpool Cathedral on 15 November 2014.

Bayes is the Visitor of St Peter's College, Oxford; he was chosen from among the Church's diocesan bishops, and may serve until he ceases to be one.

He was for a short time a member of House of Lords from 15 November 2021 until his retirement. He retired and resigned the See of Liverpool effective 1 March 2022. He was succeeded as Bishop of Liverpool by John Perumbalath.

Views

In June 2016 Bayes "called for far-reaching change in the church's attitudes to lesbian and gay people and a meaningful welcome to Christians in same-sex relationships". He supports dropping the requirement for gay Christians to be celibate, saying "I've learned to respect the experiences of people who want to celebrate and express their sexuality, and be within the church". He contributed a chapter to the book Journeys in Grace and Truth: Revisiting Scripture and Sexuality (2016), which aims to show how it is "possible to hold a positive view of same-sex relationships while being a biblically rooted evangelical".

Since 2020, Bayes has been a patron of the Open Table Network, an ecumenical Christian charity for LGBT people and their allies. In a speech at the MOSAIC (Movement of Supporting Anglicans for an Inclusive Church) national conference, he called for the Church of England to adopt a "gender-neutral marriage canon" and "to honour, recognise and, yes indeed, bless same-sex unions". Bayes said, “I want to see a church where, if a congregation and its ministers want to bless and marry same-sex people or trans people, then they should be free to do so without stigma. And those who don’t want to do so should be given freedom of conscience not to do so. I want to see gender-neutral marriage canons, that simply say marriage is between two people.”

Bayes maintains there is too much divisiveness in UK society and in the west generally. Bayes said there is a, “struggle between those in whose interest it is to fragment society and those who want to sustain the common good. (...) It’s not about individual bad apples. It’s about the culture. adversarial, scratchy, exhausted (...) You see clear illiberalism in eastern Europe, you see the rise of the extreme right in France, and you see what you see in the United States … Basic decencies have been lost.”

In the Diocese of Liverpool, Bayes has sought to galvanise all members of the churches, younger and older, around a vision named "Bigger Church, Bigger Difference", with the stated theme "Making a Bigger Difference — More people knowing Jesus, more justice in the world" This has been further embedded through the call to a Rule of Life within the diocese.

Personal life

Bayes married Kate Kate in 1976; she died in March 2024. He and his wife, have three adult children.

Styles

• The Reverend Paul Bayes (1979–2007)
• The Reverend Canon Paul Bayes (2007–2010)
• The Right Reverend Paul Bayes (2010–present)

References

1. "About Bishop Paul". Diocese of Liverpool. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
2. ^ "Suffragan See of Hertford" (Press release). London: Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
3. ^ "The Next Bishop of Liverpool Is to Be the Right Revd Paul Bayes". Diocese of Liverpool. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
4. ^ "Bayes, Paul". Who's Who. Vol. 2017 (November 2016 online ed.). A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.251561.
5. "Subjects of Bradford's mystery Belle Vue photo archive found". BBC News. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
6. ^ "New Bishop of Hertford Says Priests and Parishioners Do the 'Top Job' in the Church" (Press release). Diocese of St Albans. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
7. "Petertide Ordinations". Church Times. No. 6073. 6 July 1979. p. 17. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
8. "Paul Bayes". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
9. "Petertide Ordinations". Church Times. No. 6125. 4 July 1980. p. 5. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
10. "New Hertford Bishop is Revd Canon Paul Bayes". BBC News. 7 July 2010. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
11. "New Bishop of Hertford Is Announced". The Herts Advertiser. St Albans, England: Archant Community Media. 11 July 2010. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
12. "Trustees". St Peter's College. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
13. St Peter's College, Oxford - Statutes at the Wayback Machine (archived October 13, 2019)
14. "Introduction: The Lord Bishop of Liverpool". UK Parliament Hansard.
15. "Bishop of Liverpool announces his retirement". Thinking Anglicans. 2 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
16. "John Perumbalath named as next Bishop of Liverpool". The Church of England. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
17. ^ Sherwood, Harriet (16 June 2016). "Senior Bishop Calls for Change in C of E Attitudes to Gay People". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
18. Bayes, Paul (2016). "Open Table, Open Mind". In Ozanne, Jayne (ed.). Journeys in Grace and Truth: Revisiting Scripture and Sexuality. London: Ekklesia. ISBN 978-0-9932942-4-2.
19. "Journeys in Grace and Truth". journeysingraceandtruth.com. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
20. "Meet our Patrons - Bishop Paul Bayes in conversation with Kieran Bohan". Open Table Network. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
21. Sherwood, Harriet (26 June 2021). "Church of England should recognise same-sex weddings, says bishop". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
22. ^ Boris Johnson should be ashamed of Savile slur, says bishop The Guardian
23. "What We Do: Bigger Church, Bigger Difference".
24. "Welcome to Rule of Life".
25. Tolmie, Amy (1 April 2024). "Comings and Goings March 2024". The Diocese of St Albans. Retrieved 25 November 2024.

• 1953 births
• Living people
• 20th-century British poets
• 20th-century Church of England bishops
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• Alumni of the Queen's Foundation
• Alumni of the University of Birmingham
• Anglican bishops of Liverpool
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