Downing Street has announced the next Bishop of Ramsbury as Rev Dr Andrew Paul Rumsey.

Author of the highly acclaimed Parish – An Anglican theology of place, he is currently serving as team rector of St Mary, Oxted in Surrey.

The Bishop of Ramsbury has responsibility mainly for the Wiltshire parishes in the Diocese of Salisbury. The new bishop will also chair the diocese's Mission and Ministry Council.

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

He was vicar of Gipsy Hill in the Diocese of Southwark before being appointed rector of Oxted and Tandridge in the Diocese of Southwark in 2011, becoming team rector in 2014.

He is a musician with a longstanding interest in songwriting and popular music.

Both he and his wife have been involved in the Greenbelt festival for many years and have also attended New Wine.

He 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.'

The Bishop of Salisbury, Rt Rev 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.'

Referring to the Salisbury diocesan vision, he said: 'He will love Wiltshire and help us develop what it means to Renew Hope across the Diocese of Salisbury.'
Rumsey is expected to take up his new position in January 2019 after being ordained to the episcopate by the Archbishop of Canterbury on Friday, January 25.

He succeeds Rt Rev Edward Francis Condry.