David Urquhart (bishop)

For the 19th century Scottish writer, see David Urquhart.

The Rt Revd  David Urquhart  BAHons[1]
Bishop of Birmingham
Church	Church of England
Diocese	Diocese of Birmingham
Enthroned	17 November 2006[2]
Predecessor	John Sentamu
Other posts	Bishop of Birkenhead (2000–2006)
Orders
Ordination	1984
Consecration	2000
Personal details
Born	14 April 1952 (1952-04-14) (age 59) Scotland
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Residence	Bishop's Croft, Harborne
Profession	formerly commercial management
Alma mater	Ealing College Business School

Anglicanism portal

David Andrew Urquhart (born 14 April 1952^[3]) is the ninth Bishop of Birmingham.

Urquhart was educated at Rugby School and Ealing College Business School (BA 1970). After a career in commercial management with British Petroleum, he studied for the ordained ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He was ordained in 1984 and served in Hull before becoming the vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry in 1992. He was appointed suffragan Bishop of Birkenhead in the Diocese of Chester in 2000. His appointment as Bishop of Birmingham was announced in 2006^[4] and he was enthroned on 11 November 2006, succeeding John Sentamu after Sentamu's appointment as Archbishop of York. Around 800 people attended his enthronement in Birmingham Cathedral.^[5]

At his enthronement Urquhart was presented with a cope which incorporated various images related to his life and the city of Birmingham. These included a bagpiper, signifying his birth and upbringing in Scotland, a motorcycle which represents one of his hobbies and the emblems of Aston Villa and Birmingham City FC, the two most prominent football teams from the city. The cope also features a passage from the Bible, which reads "You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets to dwell in." (Isaiah 58:12). The passage was written in English, Mandarin, Hebrew and Gandan. During the ceremony in Birmingham Cathedral, Urquhart smashed a large clay pot with a mallet to signify the fragility of human life and our world.^[6]

In a message to his new diocese shortly after his enthronement, Urquhart thanked the people of Birmingham for the warm welcome he had received. He cited his desire for the diocese to engage in "worship, making disciples and prophetic witness".^[7]

Urquhart acts as the Archbishop of Canterbury's envoy to China and accompanied him on a visit to China in October 2006.^[8] Urquhart was appointed Prelate of The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George in 2005^[9][10] and holds the Freedom of the Borough of Wirral.^[11] He is unmarried.

Urquhart was introduced as a Lord Spiritual to the House of Lords on 26 October 2010.^[12]

Styles

• David Urquhart Esq (1952–1984)
• The Revd David Urquhart (1984–2000)
• The Rt Revd David Urquhart (2000—present)

References

1. ^ Be Birmingham — The Rt Rev David Urquhart
2. ^ Diocese of Birmingham — A cope of Many Languages for the Ninth Bishop of Birmingham
3. ^ Peter Owen — Diocesan Bishops in the Church of England
4. ^ London Gazette: no. 58024. p. 8460. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
5. ^ ""Birmingham's new bishop is named", BBC News, 23 May 2006". 23 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5008588.stm. Retrieved 2 January 2010. 
6. ^ ""A cope of Many Languages for the Ninth Bishop of Birmingham", 17 November 2006, Diocese of Birmingham website". http://www.birmingham.anglican.org/content/content_yourchurch_news_story.asp?id=23#. 
7. ^ ""Bishop of Birmingham Inaugurated", Diocese of Birmingham, 17 November 2006". http://www.birmingham.anglican.org/content/content_yourchurch_bishop.asp. 
8. ^ ""Notes from China", Archbishop of Canterbury official site, October 2006". http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/releases/061019.htm. 
9. ^ London Gazette: no. 57654. p. 7053. 31 May 2005. Retrieved 2008-04-18.
10. ^ ""New Bishop of Birmingham appointed", Office of the Prime Minister, 23 May 2006". http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page9514.asp. 
11. ^ ""Wirral honours civic leaders", Wirral Council press release, 6 November 2006". http://www.wirral.gov.uk/events/PRshow.asp?PRId=1791&type=Press. 
12. ^ UK Parliament — Lords Calendar

External links

• Profile on the Diocese of Birmingham's official website

Church of England titles
Preceded by Michael Langrish	Bishop of Birkenhead 2000–2006	Succeeded by Keith Sinclair
Preceded by John Sentamu	Bishop of Birmingham 2006—	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Urquhart, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 April 1952
Place of birth	Scotland
Date of death
Place of death