Bishop Tim Profile

Bishop Tim, who is 52, is married to Sian, and they have two adult children, Benedict and Alice. He has been a Bishop since 2001, when he was consecrated Bishop of Sherborne, in the Diocese of Salisbury.

Ministry in the Diocese of Wakefield 
Tim Thornton was educated at Devonport High School for Boys, and took his degree at Southampton University, before training for ministry at St Stephen's House, Oxford. He was ordained Deacon in Wakefield Cathedral in 1980, and priested the following year, when he became Assistant priest in Todmorden, in Wakefield Diocese. In 1982 he was appointed Priest in Charge of St Peter, Walsden in the same Diocese.  From 1985-87, Tim Thornton did two years as University Chaplain to the Colleges in Cardiff, before being invited back to Wakefield in 1987 by Bishop David Hope, to be his Chaplain.

Chaplain to Bishop and David Hope
The following year Tim Thornton became Diocesan Director of Ordinands, responsible for those in training for the Church's ministry. In 1991 Bishop David Hope became Bishop of London, and invited Tim to be his Chaplain there, for the next three years. In 1994 he became Principal of the North Thames Ministerial Training Course, and in 1998 he was appointed Vicar of Kensington, St Mary Abbots, a significant group of three London churches.

Bishop of Sherborne since 2001 
Tim Thornton was consecrated Bishop  in Southwark Cathedral in 2001, and became Bishop of Sherborne, with area responsibility for the county of Dorset, with its rural villages and affluent, growing seaside towns, including Weymouth and Poole, where Bishop Tim established important links with the University. The Bishop of Salisbury asked Bishop Tim to take up responsibility for the links which Salisbury had had for 38 years with the Anglican Church in the Sudan, which Bishop Tim says had a very profound effect on his ministry. In 2007, he was appointed a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Dorset.

Excellent Communicator
Throughout his career, Tim Thornton has been involved in education, and has been a governor of schools ranging from Church of England Infants to secondary and independent schools in the public and private sectors. Described by colleagues as being immediately likeable and approachable, with a quick sense of humour, the Bishop is an excellent communicator; he has led a number of pilgrimages in the Diocese of Salisbury, and he likens these in many ways to the weekend pilgrimages which Bishop Bill and the Chairman of the Methodist District have shared in recent years in Cornwall. He lists cricket, Rugby Union and keeping fit amongst his hobbies, which also include reading novels and church history.

A special service of welcome, attended by representatives of all the Cornish parishes, and Bishops and former colleagues from all over the United Kingdom was held at Truro Cathedral on Saturday 7th March 2009. In the weeks following his official welcome, the Bishop has visited each of the Cornish Rural Deaneries, meeting people in an informal way, and getting to know some of the history, geography and passions of Cornwall.

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