THE new Bishop of Ramsbury has been announced by Downing Street.

The Reverend Dr Andrew Paul Rumsey succeeds the Right Reverend Edward Francis Condry, who resigned on May 12.

Dr Rumsey is the author of Parish – An Anglican theology of place and is currently serving as Team Rector of St Mary, Oxted in Surrey.

The Bishop of Ramsbury is an ancient title first used in 909 AD with responsibility mainly for the Wiltshire parishes in the Diocese of Salisbury. The new Bishop will also chair the Diocese’s Mission and Ministry Council.

Dr Rumsey is 50 and comes from a long line of parish clergy. He was educated at the University of Reading and then at Kings College, London. He trained for ordination at Ridley Hall, Cambridge.

He served his title at Harrow in the Diocese of London and was Vicar of Gipsy Hill in the Diocese of Southwark. In 2011 he was appointed Rector of Oxted and Tandridge in the Diocese of Southwark before becoming Team Rector in 2014.

As well as being an author, he is also a musician with a longstanding interest in songwriting and popular music.

Dr Rumsey said: “I am honoured and delighted to have been appointed as the new Bishop of Ramsbury.

"At a time of rapid change in our society, the enduring strength of the Church of England is its commitment to local communities, in all parts of the country, I greatly look forward to working alongside Bishop Nicholas and Bishop Karen, and to serving this purpose in the glorious county of Wiltshire."

He is expected to take up his new position in January after being ordained to the episcopate as the new Suffragan Bishop of Ramsbury by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday, January 25.

The Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam said: "I very much look forward to Andrew’s arrival in the diocese. As a parish priest he has worked in a variety of settings. As a person he has unusual breadth and depth and is an outstanding communicator of the Gospel. He will love Wiltshire and help us develop what it means to Renew Hope across the Diocese of Salisbury.”