The Bishop of Ely

The Rt Revd Anthony Russell

Bishop Anthony Russell

The Rt Revd Dr Anthony Russell was installed as the 68th Bishop of Ely in the year 2000. He is one of the longest-serving Bishops in the Church of England.

Working with the senior staff of the Diocese, he has exercised a strong and effective leadership guiding the Church’s mission and ministry, teaching the Christian faith through preaching and writing, in frequent visits to parishes, in synods and councils, and through the media.

Bishop Anthony was educated at Uppingham School, at St Chad’s College, Durham, and afterwards at Trinity College, Oxford, where he gained a DPhil, writing on the professionalisation of the clergy in the nineteenth century.

He attended Cuddesdon Theological College, and was ordained in 1970 to serve as a curate in the Hilborough Group of parishes in West Norfolk. He moved in 1973 to be a parish priest in South Warwickshire in the Coventry Diocese.

At the same time, he was Chaplain (1973-1982) and later Director (1983-1988) at the Arthur Rank Centre at Stoneleigh, and helped develop the centre into a national resource for churches serving in rural communities. He was appointed Canon Theologian of Coventry Cathedral in 1983. He was appointed a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen in 1988. He was appointed Area Bishop of Dorchester (responsible for the County of Oxfordshire) in the Diocese of Oxford in 1988.

Coming from a farming family, Bishop Anthony is no stranger to the practical skills and hands-on approach needed on the land.  He was driving a tractor on the day he went to theological college.  He continues to take a keen interest in rural affairs and in the farming community. He has been president of Cambridge ACRE and many other Cambridgeshire organisations. 

He is a well-known speaker and commentator on agricultural affairs in a range of capacities: 

• A member of the House of Lords since 2007
• Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Societies from 2008
• President of the East of England Agricultural Society (2007-2008)
• President of the RASE (Royal Agricultural Society of England) in 2004-5
• President of the Woodard Corporation in 2003 – a federation of 44 Anglican schools in both the private and maintained sectors
• Trustee of the Rural Housing Trust (1983-2006)
• Honorary Chaplain of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institute(1983-2002)
• Member of the Rural Development Commission (1991-1999)
• Member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of England since 1983

The Bishop of Ely is closely involved in the life of the University of Cambridge. He is the Visitor of St John’s College, Jesus College and Peterhouse. He is an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College and St Edmund’s College in Cambridge, and St Chad’s College, Durham.

Bishop Anthony writes regularly for The Church Times. His many publications include:

• The Country Parson (SPCK, 1993)
• The Country Parish (SPCK, 1986)
• The Clerical Profession (SPCK, 1980)

You can contact Bishop Anthony by

Email:

Telephone: 01353 662749

Post:
The Right Revd Dr Anthony Russell
The Bishop of Ely
The Bishop's House
Ely
CB7 4DW