Views gathered in new Isle of Man bishop selection process

Stephen Knott visited the island to discuss the selection process with members of the Manx community

Giving communities the chance to express their views on the selection of a new Manx bishop is an important new step, the Archdeacon has said.

Two open meetings were held on Monday as a new addition to the selection process for a new Bishop of Sodor and Man.

It follows the planned retirement of the Right Reverend Peter Eagles, who is due to step down in late October.

The Venerable Irene Cowell said it was a chance for people to be heard.

The Venerable Irene Cowell said the process allowed people's voices to be heard

It was the first time church congregations and the broader community have been involved in the process, which saw the Archbishops' Appointment's Secretary, Stephen Knott, visit the island.

Mr Knott advises the Archbishops of York and Canterbury on overseeing crown appointments in the Church of England.

He said an important aspect to the consultation process was "to spend time in a community and in a diocese in order to get the voices of the people and the local communities and the people that the church is there to serve".

Under the selection process, a committee of people elected from parishes across the diocese are interviewed to gauge their views about who the next appointee should be, as well as written views via a questionnaire.

Lay reader Gill Poole attended the meeting at Kirk Michael to discuss the new appointment

In addition this time around, two hour-long public meetings were held in Kirk Michael and Ballasalla.

Gill Poole, who is a lay reader at one of the island's rural parishes, said the meetings had been "very helpful" to explain the process of the selection, and there has been some "constructive" contributions from her fellow attendees.

"I think this is a real blessing this time round that every ordinary member of the church, and people who aren't members of the church, can come and say this is what we think the island needs," she said.