The Diocese of Oxford
The Diocese of Oxford is a living, growing network of more than a thousand churches, chaplaincies and schools across the three counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. More than 2.5 million people live in the Diocese and this number is set to rise significantly over the next decade.
The diocese is divided into four Episcopal Areas in a mature area scheme. The Bishop of Buckingham is Area Bishop for Buckinghamshire. The Bishop of Reading is Area Bishop for Berkshire. The Bishop of Dorchester is the Area Bishop for Oxfordshire outside the city of Oxford. The Bishop of Oxford has the city of Oxford as an Episcopal Area and oversees the whole.
Christ Church is the Cathedral for the diocese.
Church House Oxford is the administrative centre for the Diocese and is the base for more than 100 staff working in support of over 600 parishes and benefices and 285 schools (many in multi academy trusts). The Bishops of Oxford and Dorchester and their teams work from Church House, Oxford. The Bishop of Reading and her team work from St. Birinus House in Theale. A new temporary Area Office for Buckingham was established in 2024 in Stone, near Aylesbury and a permanent purpose built office is in planning.
The Diocesan Board of Finance, chaired by Sir Hector Sants, has an annual operating budget of about £30 million and in 2023 generated a surplus with a return on parish share of nearly 95%. Thanks to the generous giving of our parishes we are not in a position of having to reduce clergy numbers or support staff at the present time beyond normal reviews of staffing in as vacancies arise.
Our common vision
Over the last seven years the diocese has been seeking to live out a common vision centred around our vocation to be a more Christ-like Church for the sake of God’s world: more contemplative, more compassionate and more courageous.
Our common vision process is creative, locally shaped and contextually appropriate for each part of our diverse diocese. It is not a series of top-down programmes, reflecting that urban Slough is very different from the market town of Witney; the rural communities of West Berkshire are subtly different from the rural communities of the Cotswolds; the commuter belt in Amersham is a culturally distinct from the new town of Bicester. For this reason, we intentionally seek to develop, encourage and resource initiatives which are local and close to the ground.
We have currently discerned five key strategic priority areas within our common vision:
- Christian formation, evangelism and discipleship
- Environmental action
- Growing new congregations
- Schools, children and young people
- Addressing poverty and inequality
The Bishops and Archdeacons share in leadership of these priority areas in portfolios which can be adjusted to the gifts of particular candiates. The two major areas in development in our common vision is our strategy for growing our engagement with children, young people and families across every deanery and a major new initiative to grow the capacity of the Church of England in Milton Keynes.
The diocese established a Development Fund for parishes in 2018 which has so far invested more than £4 million in local projects to further our common vision. We have also benefitted from national Strategic Development Fund (SDF) funding for resource hubs across the diocese as part of our vision to grow new congregations. The SDF-funded hubs in the Buckingham Archdeaconry are in Bletchley and Water Eaton in Milton Keynes; in High Wycombe and in Slough. It is likely that we will make a further bid for national funding in 2025 or 2026 focussed around our two areas in development.
Every new senior appointment to the diocesan team is made on the basis of a commitment to this common vision.
Schools and education
The Oxford Diocesan Board of Education plays a significant role in education across the diocese. There are 34 Voluntary Aided schools, 28 Voluntary Controlled schools and 19 Academies (plus four non-church academies) in the Buckingham Archdeaconry.
Equality and diversity
The diocese has made significant steps forward in racial justice and encouraging UKME Anglicans in recent years, as well as in disability awareness. We have a recently appointed team of Bishops Advisers in Women’s Ministry.
International links
The diocese has four key diocesan links: Kimberley and Kuruman in South Africa (part of the Anglican Province of Southern Africa), Nandyal in the Church of South India, Växjö, a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Sweden and a new link with the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands formed in 2024.
Safeguarding
We are committed to promoting the welfare of the children, young people and vulnerable adults and protecting them from harm. As all leaders in the diocese, the Archdeacon of Buckingham will work in developing a culture where safeguarding is regarded as the responsibility of the whole church, and at the heart of our mission; they will exercise responsibility for promoting a safer Church in the Buckingham Area, ensuring pastoral care of survivors, and be coherent with the safeguarding policies and practice guidance of the Church of England whilst actively engaging in continuous learning in this area. The recent independent review of our safeguarding by Ineqe can be found here.
The Archdeacon of Buckingham will play a key role in continuing to develop safeguarding across the Diocese and the Episcopal Area with key colleagues, often leading with the Area Safeguarding Adviser on safeguarding case management and chairing Core Groups.
Sharing oversight
Three parishes in the Area have passed resolutions under the Women Priests and Bishops measure and are under the oversight of the Bishop of Oswestry, with whom collaboration is excellent.
In all appointments, we are consciously seeking diversity in our teams in terms of gender, race, disability and the differing theological positions.
There is a range of views across the Diocese on Living in Love and Faith and a diverse episcopal and archdiaconal team which holds together well. Some of the larger and more conservative parishes in the Diocese are in the Buckingham Episcopal Area including a small number who have sought alternative oversight and different arrangements for the payment of parish share.
The diocese is committed to upholding the Five Guiding Principles as set out in the House of Bishops’ Declaration on the Ministry of Priests and Bishops, and to promote the flourishing of churches across the range of the theological breadth of the Church of England.