THE P
RTAL
Keith Newton
Keith Newton was born in Liverpool on 10 th April 1952 . Educated at King ’ s College London , later earning a PGCE at Christ Church College Canterbury , he completed his training for ordination in the Church of England at St Augustine ’ s College , Canterbury .
Malawi
He began his career with a curacy at Great Ilford , before going on the become Team Rector at Wimbledon in the Diocese of Southwark . In 1985 he went to Malawi and was appointed Dean of Blantyre in 1986 . In 1993 he returned to the UK as Vicar of Holy Nativity Knowle in Bristol , a post he combined with being priest in charge of All Hallows Easton . He has been Bishop of Richborough since 2002 .
Keith is married to Gill and they have three children , Lucy , Tom and James and one grandchild .
Richborough
Bishop Newton succeeded Edwin Barnes as Bishop of Richborough in 2002 . In this capacity he cared for all the traditional parishes in the east of the Southern Province of Canterbury except Rochester , London , Southwark and Chichester .
‘ Eat anything , sleep anywhere !’
An expert pastor , he is good with clergy and laity alike . Blest with a keen sense of humour , he has what a previous generation would call “ the common touch ”. Keith Newton is loved by both clergy and laity . He has given to the Richborough Area a Priest ’ s Council and a sense of structure .
A diverse area that is geographically difficult , having the London conurbation at its heart , yet not part of the Area . He has travelled the breadth and depth of
January 2011 Page 6
Ordination Dates of Andrew Burnham , John Broadhurst and Keith Newton are : The Ordinations to the Diaconate will be on Thursday 13th January The Ordinations to the Priesthood
will be in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 15th January at 10.30am All are welcome to attend
his sprawling area . This must have been costly both to him and his family , but he jokes , “ When I was asked to become the Bishop I visited John Richards and asked him what qualities were needed , he replied ‘ eat anything , sleep anywhere !’”
Keith has the ability to see the good in everyone and the equally valuable quality to see the wood from the trees . He can cut through cant and half-truth , to the real question . He will be an asset to the Ordinariate .
Anglicanorum Coetibus
Writing as an Anglican Bishop , he said ; “ I am sure it will be said that I am leaving because of the issue of the ordination of women to the episcopate . While it is true that this has been an important factor in my thinking it is not the most significant factor .
The publication of the Apostolic Constitution , Anglicanorum Coetibus , just one year ago , came as a surprise and has completely changed the landscape for Anglo Catholics . Since the inception of the ARCIC process , set up by Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey in the 1960s , most of us have longed and prayed for corporate union with the Catholic Church ; union which in our own time has seemed less likely because of the new difficulties concerning the ordination of women and other doctrinal and moral issues affecting the Anglican Communion .”
‘ That they may all be one ’
He continued ; “... I am not taking this step in faith for negative reasons about problems in the Church of England but for positive reasons in response to our Lord ’ s prayer the night before he died the ‘ they may all be one .’”