UPDATED: see below
The Church of England in the Diocese of Durham web site, announces that well known New Testament teacher, author and speaker, the Rt. Rev. Dr. N.T. (Tom) Wright is retiring from his position as Bishop of Durham to devote more time to his other work.
The Bishop of Durham, Dr N. T. Wright, has announced that he will be retiring from the See of Durham on August 31.
Dr Wright, who will be 62 this autumn, is returning to the academic world, in which he spent the first twenty years of his career, and will take up a new appointment as Research Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
…
‘But my continuing vocation to be a writer, teacher and broadcaster, for the benefit (I hope) of the wider world and church, has been increasingly difficult to combine with the complex demands and duties of a diocesan bishop. I am very sad about this, but the choice has become increasingly clear.’
Thinking Anglicans has more here
Ruth Gledhill writes in The Times:
The leading bishop for the evangelical centre, NT Wright, Bishop of Durham, is returning to academia, taking a chair at St Andrew’s. He is 61 and could in theory have remained at Durham until he was 70. As one of the top five, he carries authority by virtue of his position but also has added value by virtue of his skills of communication and of intellect. He will be badly missed by his troubled church. Professor Ivor Davidson at St Andrews said, ‘Tom Wright ranks among the most distinguished New Testament scholars in the world, and his profile as a churchman, writer and communicator is simply outstanding. I am delighted that he will be joining us at St Andrews, where he will further enhance the long-established reputation of the School of Divinity as a major international centre of biblical and theological scholarship.’
The Church Times report is here
UPDATE: The Archbishop of Canterbury on the retirement:
“Bishop Tom has given generously of his extraordinary gifts in the life of his diocese and the Church of England at large, and he will be greatly missed by his fellow bishops. But we are all delighted that he will have fuller opportunity now to develop the unique ministry of Christian scholarship which has enriched so many minds and hearts across the world”.