Tim Thornton (bishop)

Early life and education

Thornton was born on 14 April 1957. He was educated at Devonport High School for Boys, an all-boys grammar school in Plymouth, Devon. He studied theology at the University of Southampton, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1978. That year, he entered St Stephen's House, Oxford, an Anglo-Catholic theological college, to train for the priesthood. He later studied at King's College London graduating with an MA in 1997.

Ordained ministry

Ordained in 1980, he began his ministry with a curacy at Todmorden and then as priest-in-charge at Walsden. He then became bishop's chaplain to David Hope: successively in the Diocese of Wakefield and the Diocese of London. From 1994 until 1998 he was Principal of the North Thames Ministerial Training Course. His final post before his ordination to the episcopate was as the vicar of Kensington.

Episcopal ministry

On 21 October 2001, Thornton was consecrated a bishop by George Carey, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, at Southwark Cathedral. From 2001 to 2008, he served as the Bishop of Sherborne, an area bishop of the Diocese of Salisbury. He was installed as Bishop of Truro at Truro Cathedral on 7 March 2009.

In 2013, Thornton became eligible to join the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords upon the retirement of Nigel McCulloch, the then Bishop of Manchester, as the next longest serving diocesan bishop. He officially became a Lord spiritual on 31 January 2013; however, he did not take his seat until he was introduced to the House in April 2013.

On 4 April 2017, it was announced that he was to resign his See to become Bishop at Lambeth, the Archbishop of Canterbury's episcopal chief of staff at Lambeth Palace, in September 2017.

Other work

Thornton has chaired the Board of Trustees of The Children's Society from 2010. He was a trustee of the Church Army 2000-2008. He is a trustee of the following Cornish charities: Volunteer Cornwall, BF Adventure (formerly Bishops Forum), Cornwall Community Foundation.

In 2015, Thornton was the Anglican delegate to the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the (Roman Catholic) Synod of Bishops.

Elliott Review controversy

In March 2016, Thornton was cited in a Guardian report on the Elliott Review as one of several senior figures who had received a disclosure of child sex abuse but had "no recollection". The review, led by Ian Elliott, found this lack of memory difficult to countenance. "What is surprising about this is that he (the survivor) would be speaking about a serious and sadistic sexual assault allegedly perpetrated by a senior member of the hierarchy. The fact that these conversations could be forgotten about is hard to accept," Elliott wrote. The survivor had tried repeatedly to alert the Archbishop's office to critical concerns arising from these denials, but was ignored on the instruction of the church's insurers. The resulting Elliott Review led to damning headlines across the UK and world media and kickstarted significant cultural and structural change in the Church of England's response to sex abuse cases. The review called for all bishops to be retrained. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reportedly said "the situation is embarrassing and uncomfortable for the church." In an open letter the survivor urged Thornton to lead a call for repentance across the House of Bishops.

Personal life

Thornton is married to Siân, a primary school teacher. Together, they have two adult children.

Styles