Church Army welcomes Steven Croft as next Bishop of Sheffield

21 October 2008

Church Army's Chief Executive Mark Russell has welcomed the announcement from 10 Downing Street today that the Revd Dr Steven John Lindsey Croft, currently Archbishops' Missioner and Leader of the Fresh Expressions team, is to be the next Bishop of Sheffield.

Mark Comments; "I am delighted to welcome Steve Croft's appointment as the next Bishop of Sheffield. Church Army has worked closely with Steve, and we know he is a man of vision, energy and deep spirituality. He loves Jesus Christ and loves people. As Archbishops' Missioner, Steve has been instrumental in the excellent progress we are making towards becoming a Mission Shaped Church. Church Army joins me in assuring Steve and his family of our support and prayers. Sheffield is very close to Church Army's heart, we have many Evangelists serving there, and our training college is located in the city centre. Steve will be a fantastic leader, pastor and ambassador for Christ in the city of Sheffield."

Church Army has a number of evangelists who work as part of the Fresh Expressions team and, through Andrew Wooding, spearhead the development of Share an online resource for people leading and supporting fresh expressions of church. The work of Church Army's Sheffield Centre is at the vanguard of recent fresh expressions and mission-shaped church development.

Dr. Croft, in Sheffield, said today: "I am honoured to be invited to become Bishop of Sheffield and to follow in the footsteps of Bishop Jack Nicholls. Ann and I are looking forward enormously to moving back to Yorkshire. I will have a great deal to learn about South Yorkshire, about the life of the church here and about being a bishop.

He added: "I intend to spend my first months in the diocese listening to what is happening in the many different communities [of Rotherham, Sheffield, Doncaster, Goole and Barnsley and everything in between]. I'll be spending time getting to know clergy and parishes but also, I hope, working alongside different people in the community to see South Yorkshire from different points of view.

Bishop Jack Nicholls said that he was delighted to hear that Steven Croft would succeed him at Sheffield: "I have worked with Steve quite a bit over recent years and am truly delighted to hear the news. He is a listener who acts on what he believes to be right and I am sure that he and Ann will be warmly welcomed right across the Diocese."