The Rt Revd Dr Tom Butler, Bishop of Southwark

Thomas Frederick Butler (born 1940) is the ninth Bishop of Southwark. Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... The Anglican Diocese of Southwark was formed in 1905 out of the Diocese of Rochester. ...

Dr Butler is a scientist by background having gained a Masters and Doctorate in electronics. He trained for ordination with the Mirfield Fathers at the College of the Resurrection in Yorkshire. redirect Master An artists impression of the Masters. ... Ordination is the process in which clergy become authorized by their religious denomination and/or seminary to perform religious rituals and ceremonies. ... Mirfield is a town in West Yorkshire, England, near Dewsbury. ... An Anglo-Catholic Anglican Theological School for the training of ordinands at Mirfield, West Yorkshire. ... Look up Yorkshire in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

After ordination in 1964, he served three years as a curate in the Ely and Canterbury Dioceses, before spending twelve years as a lecturer in electronics and as chaplain at the University of Zambia and then at the University of Kent at Canterbury. During this period he was on the staff of Lusaka and Canterbury Cathedrals respectively. 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... The Dioecese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. ... Arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop of the state Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion, outranking the other English archbishop, the Archbishop of York. ... The University of Kent is a plate glass campus university in Kent, England. ... Statistics Population: 42,258 (2001) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TR145575 Administration District: City of Canterbury Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and... Canterbury Cathedral from the southwest. ...

Dr Butler was the Archdeacon of Northolt from 1980 to 1985, then became Area Bishop of Willesden (both in the Diocese of London). He was appointed Bishop of Leicester in 1991 and Bishop of Southwark in 1998. For the Major League Baseball player, see Maurice Archdeacon. ... Northolt is a place in the London Borough of Ealing, west London. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bishop of Willesden is a suffragan bishopric within the Church of England Diocese of London. ... The Diocese of London forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. ... The Bishop of Leicester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Leicester in the Province of Canterbury. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Anglican Diocese of Southwark was formed in 1905 out of the Diocese of Rochester. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

He is married to Barbara, who is the Executive Secretary of Christians Aware, a charity that is involved in education and development. They have two grown-up children and four grandchildren.

Dr Butler has been active at national and international level. Until 1995 he chaired the follow-up to "Faith in the City", which published the controversial Staying in the City report. He chaired the General Synod's Board of Mission from 1995 until 2001 and is now Vice Chair Public Affairs of the Mission and Public Affairs Council. He is also Chair of the Governors of Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He served as the General Synod representative on the Inner Cities Religious Council, an initiative set up by the Department of the Environment, until 2001. Since mid-2003 the Bishop has represented the Church of England on the central committee of the World Council of Churches. He entered the House of Lords in 1997. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Faith in the City was a report published in the UK in Autumn 1985, authored by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. ... The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cuddesdon is a pre-Domesday village located in the hundred of Bullingdon, within the county of Oxfordshire in England. ... The Department for the Environment (Formerly the Department of Environmental Protection) was West Australias environmental agency. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church[1] in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... The World Council of Churches (WCC) is the principal international Christian ecumenical organization. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dr Butler is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day and has taken part in many other national and local TV and radio programmes. He has also co-authored two books with his wife: Just Mission and Just Spirituality in a World of Faiths. BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... Thought for the Day is a short religious radio programme, broadcast as part of the Today programme on the BBCs Radio 4 at around 7:45 am every weekday morning (BBC 2005). ...

He was enthroned in Southwark Cathedral on 12 September 1998. Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. ... Portal:Currentevents September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ...

Public drunkenness controversy - "I'm the Bishop of Southwark, it's what I do"

On Tuesday, 5 December 2006, Dr Butler returned home from a function at the Irish embassy in London with a head injury, which he claimed to be unable to remember sustaining. He contacted the police claiming that he had been mugged. However, it was subsequently suggested in the media that Butler, apparently under the influence of alcohol, had sustained the injury while being removed from a stranger's car into which he had apparently climbed (in the appropriately named Crucifix Lane), and had begun throwing out the children's toys from the back seats[1]. On being questioned about this seemingly eccentric behaviour by the car's owner, he is alleged to have responded, "I'm the Bishop of Southwark, it's what I do". [2]. December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

This episode has proved very embarrassing for the Bishop, as he is known in the church as a strong disciplinarian, particularly when it comes to junior clergy caught under the influence of alcohol. Ruth Gledhill in the Times Online said: Ruth Gledhill (b. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom. ...

"One issue, as far as I can see, is how this reflects on him given his own treatment of clergy in the Southwark diocese. As someone who has worshipped for the past 15 years at the very least at three different churches in the diocese, and who meets clergy from Southwark and neighbouring dioceses regularly at General Synod, I have been witness to the effects of Bishop Tom's inimitable pastoral approach to his own errant and indeed inerrant clergy. Put simply, as one lay person said to me when they telephoned yesterday: "Ruth, I feel sorry for the man but let's face it, if my vicar had done this he probably would not have survived." ."

Alan Craig, who is the head of the group known as the Christian People's Alliance on Newham Council in east London, is reported as having said: The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. ... Alan Craig is a Borough councillor for the London Borough of Newham. ... The London Borough of Newham is a London borough in East London. ...

"If it's true he was drunk he ought to resign. He can be forgiven, but he can't carry on as Bishop. He's supposed to be a role model and being drunk in a gutter he can't be a good example. It's not comical; it's sad for him, and for the church."

Despite the very public barrage of criticism from both the clergy and the laity, Dr Butler has stated that he has no plans to resign his position. Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... In religious organizations, the laity comprises all lay persons collectively. ...

In an interview with John Humphrys on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Tuesday, 19 December 2006, Dr Butler, in a somewhat tortuous explanation, reiterated his claim that he had not been drinking heavily, and contended that someone who was greatly intoxicated could not have negotiated the complex tube route to his home from the reception location. He also stated that he was very worried that he still could not account for three hours of the evening in question, and was undergoing medical tests. John Humphrys John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a British radio and television presenter. ... BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ... Today, sometimes referred to as the Today programme to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4s long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, which is now broadcast from 6am to 9am from Monday to Friday and from 7am to 9am on Saturdays. ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Dr Butler gave the Thought for the Day on the same date. The Thought section is a talk of three minutes and fifteen seconds given from a religious point of view and is produced by the BBC's religious affairs department. [3]. Thought for the Day is a short religious radio programme, broadcast as part of the Today programme on the BBCs Radio 4 at around 7:45 am every weekday morning (BBC 2005). ...

External links

• Southwark Diocese
• Guardian coverage of public drunkenness allegations
• The Times Online - comments on the drunken Bishop episode
• The Independent Online