Michael Doe (bishop)

Michael David Doe (born 24 December 1947) is the Preacher of Gray's Inn and a former Bishop of Swindon.

The Right Reverend Michael Doe
Bishop of Swindon
Diocese	Diocese of Bristol
In office	1994–2001
Predecessor	Peter Firth as Bishop of Malmesbury
Successor	Lee Rayfield
Other posts	Preacher to Gray's Inn (8 June 2011–present) General Secretary, USPG (2004–2011) Honorary assistant bishop in Southwark (2004–present)
Orders
Ordination	1972 (deacon); 1973 (priest)
Consecration	1994
Personal details
Born	24 December 1947 Lymington, Hampshire
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Parents	Albert & Violet Curtis
Profession	Bishop
Alma mater	Durham University

Doe grew up on the Highfield Council Estate in Pennington, Hants, and attended Brockenhurst Grammar School. He went on to Durham University (Bachelor of Arts {BA(Hons)}).[1] After studying at Ripon Hall, Oxford, he was ordained priest in 1973.[2] He was a curate on the St Helier Estate in South London, after which he was Youth Secretary of the British Council of Churches. He moved to Oxford in 1981 to be Priest Missioner in the Blackbird Leys Ecumenical Partnership, and also served as Rural Dean of Cowley from 1987-1989.[3] During this time he co-presented the weekly religious affairs programme on BBC Radio Oxford: "Spirit Level". He was then Social Responsibility Advisor to the Diocese of Portsmouth and a canon residentiary at Portsmouth Cathedral, before his ordination to the episcopate as suffragan bishop of Swindon in the Diocese of Bristol in 1994. After ten years in this post when he was appointed, in 2004, the General Secretary of the mission agency United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel [4] On retirement in 2011 he became Preacher to Gray's Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in London.[5] He is an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Southwark, and chaired the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility from 2012 to 2015. In 2002 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Bath. His publications include "Seeking the Truth in Love - the Church and Homosexuality" (DLT 2000), "Today!" (USPG 2009), and "Saving Power - the Mission of God and the Anglican Communion" (SPCK 2011).

On 11 February 2017, Doe was one of 14 retired bishops to sign an open letter to the then-serving bishops of the Church of England. They expressed their opposition to the House of Bishops' report to General Synod on sexuality, which recommended no change to the Church's canons or practises around sexuality.[6] By 13 February, a serving bishop (Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham) and nine further retired bishops had added their signatures;[7] on 15 February, the report was rejected by synod.[8]

References

1. Who's Who2008: London, A & C Black ISBN 978-0-7136-8555-8
2. Crockford's Clerical Directory2008/2009 Lambeth, Church House Publishing ISBN 978-0-7151-1030-0
3. Fox, Dorothy.Blackbird Leys: A Thirty Year History Archived 2013-02-28 at the Wayback Machine Oxford. Page 34. 1990.
4. Brief profile
5. "Gray's Inn – Preacher". Gray's Inn. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
6. Retired Bishops' Letter — The Letter Archived 2017-02-12 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 11 February 2017; the 14 bishops were David Atkinson, Doe, Tim Ellis, David Gillett, John Gladwin, Laurie Green, Richard Harries, Stephen Lowe, Stephen Platten, John Pritchard, Peter Selby, Tim Stevens, Martin Wharton, and Roy Williamson.)
7. Retired Bishops' Letter — New Signatures Archived 2017-02-18 at the Wayback Machine (Accessed 17 February 2017; the nine bishops were Gordon Bates, Ian Brackley, John Davies, Peter Maurice, David Rossdale, John Saxbee, Martin Shaw, Oliver Simon, and David Stancliffe.
8. The Grauniad — Church of England in turmoil as synod rejects report on same-sex relationships (Accessed 17 February 2017)