The Bishop of Loughborough is an episcopal title used by the sole suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Leicester in the Province of Canterbury, England.Anglican Communion – Leicester
From 1987 to 2017, the Assistant Bishop of Leicester was an episcopal title used by the sole stipendiary assistant bishop (effectively suffragan bishop) of the Diocese of Leicester. The title took its name as the bishop who assisted the diocesan Bishop of Leicester. The role was created following the 1986 refusal of a request to create a suffragan bishop for the diocese, and was filled from then only with ad hoc funding arrangements for four bishops already in episcopal orders. Boyle was the only incumbent to serve on a full-time basis.
On 26 November 2016, Leicester Diocesan Synod approved a proposal to replace the Assistant Bishop post with a new suffragan bishop role of Bishop suffragan of Loughborough, following Boyle's retirement in 2017, with the expectation that this could be completed by the end of that year.Diocese of Leicester – Synod supports creation of Suffragan Bishop (Accessed 19 December 2016)David Pocklington, "A new suffragan see for Loughborough" in Law & Religion UK, 30 November 2016, The proposal was accepted by General Synod in February 2017 and the See was erected by Order of the Privy Council on 12 April 2017.Privy Council Office – Orders, 12 April 2017 (Accessed 27 April 2017)
The bishop's residence is Bishop's House, Rothley, in Charnwood.
List of bishops Assistant Bishops of Leicester FromUntilIncumbentNotes1987 1995 Godfrey Ashby 1995 2001 Bill Down Formerly Bishop of Bermuda2001 2005 vacant 2005 2007 John Austin Retired Bishop of Aston2007 2009 vacant 2009 2017 Christopher Boyle Formerly the last British bishop of Northern Malawi;Conger – First African bishop of Northern Malawi consecrated from 6 September 2009; retired 31 May 2017.Diocese of Leicester – Christopher announces retirement (Accessed 20 January 2017) Bishops of Loughborough2017 2021 Guli Francis-Dehqani Consecrated 30 November 2017; translated to Chelmsford 11 March 20212022 present Saju Muthalaly Consecrated 25 January 2022; also part-time Assistant Bishop of Coventry during vacancy-in-see, since November 2023
Other assistant bishops
References