Keith Sinclair (bishop)


Gordon Keith Sinclair is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2007, he has served as the Bishop of Birkenhead, one of two suffragan bishops in the Church of England Diocese of Chester. As of 2020, he is also the acting Bishop of Chester.

Early life and education

Sinclair was born on 3 December 1952 to Donald and Joyce Sinclair. He studied at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree; as per tradition, his BA was later promoted to an Oxford Master of Arts degree. He then worked as a solicitor.
Sinclair entered Cranmer Hall, Durham, an Evangelical Anglican theological college, to train for the ministry. During this time he studied theology and graduated with BA degree from Durham University in 1984.

Ordained ministry

Sinclair was ordained in the Church of England: made a deacon at Petertide 1984 and ordained a priest the Petertide following – both times by Hugh Montefiore, Bishop of Birmingham, at Birmingham Cathedral. From 1984 to 1988, he served his curacy at Christ Church, Summerfield in the Diocese of Birmingham. He was additionally a part-time chaplain at the Birmingham Children's Hospital. Then, from 1988 to 2001, he was vicar of the Church of SS Peter & Paul, Aston. He was also the area dean of Aston and an honorary canon of Birmingham Cathedral between 2000 and 2001. He moved to the Diocese of Coventry, and served as vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Coventry from 2001 to 2007.

Episcopal ministry

On 8 March 2007, Sinclair was consecrated a bishop by John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, during a service at York Minster. Since then, he has served as the Bishop of Birkenhead, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Chester. He has additionally served as acting Bishop of Chester since 1 October 2019.

Beliefs

Sinclair is on the council of reference of the True Freedom Trust. Its vision is to uphold traditional biblical teaching on sexual relationships and gender and to do so with "understanding and compassion, so that Christians who struggle with same-sex attractions or gender identity gain increasing acceptance, wholeness and maturity in faith within their local church."
Sinclair was one of the bishops selected to be a member of the Church of England working group on human sexuality which in 2013 produced the Pilling Report. The report acknowledges the complexity of the issue stating: "This report cannot attempt a definitive account of the debate about the meaning of Scripture, even if such an enterprise were conceivable."
Two essays are appended to the Report. One, by Sinclair, epitomizes a conservative understanding of the biblical texts. The other by the Revd David Runcorn argues a scriptural case for a more inclusive ethic.
The Report, by way of explanation for the essays, states: "We include these two contributions, not because they sum up the whole range of scriptural scholarship on this subject – they emphatically do not – but because they epitomize the way in which study of the same sources can lead to very different conclusions."

Personal life

Sinclair has been married since 1989 and they have three children. He is a keen walker and his brother is the actor Malcolm Sinclair.

Styles