Jobs for the boys

This is getting very, very silly.
Only it's not silly. It's an dreadful commentary on these appalling times for the C of E.
The new Bishop of Salisbury has been announced: Nicholas Holtam. And yes, you guessed it, he trained with all his bishopy mates at Westcott House, Cambridge.
But there's real irony here. Holtam is a gay rights activist because he believes that no matter what anyone does in their sexual life, there should be equality. And yet he's just accepted an invitation to join probably the most exclusive club in the world - the house of bishops.
One assumes that he will be fighting hard to get some of those who have been deliberately excluded from that club appointed i.e. conservative evangelicals who didn't go to public school or Oxbridge... But don't hold your breath.
The last conservative evangelical to be appointed a Diocesan Bishop was probably Maurice Wood in 1971. But guess where even he was educated? Yup, private school, then Queen's College and Ridley Hall, Cambridge!

If you think all this is fantasy and conspiracy have a look at the list of current Diocesan Bishops in the Canterbury Province (below). (Since Ripon Cuddesdon is not a proper Oxford College, though it is linked to the Uni, we'll put the bishops who went there with the non-Oxbridge lot). Now add them up: there are 7 non-Oxbridge and 30 Oxbridge bishops. In the Province of York, there are 10 Oxbridge and 3 non.
What's even more astonishing is that the Archbishop of Canterbury told me personally, face-to-face, and without a hint of sarcasm that the process was, "democratic"!! While we have people like that in positions like that, this nepotism will continue.

Current Diocesan Bishops in the Province of Canterbury:
Rowan Williams: Oxford & Cambridge
Peter Price: Redland College & Oak Hill!!
David Urquhart: Rugby School & Oxford
Mike Hill: Cambridge (twice)
Stephen Cottrell: Oxford
John Hind: Ripon Cuddesdon (linked to Oxford)
Christopher Cocksworth: Manchester & Nottingham (but was Principal at Ridley, Cambridge & is the son-in-law of a bishop).
Alistair Redfern: Oxford
Stephen Conway: Oxford & Cambridge
Michael Langrish: Cambridge
Geoffrey Rowell: Cambridge (twice)
Michael Perham: Oxford
Christopher Hill: London
Anthony Priddis: Cambridge
Tim Stevens: Oxford & Cambridge
Jonathan Gledhill: Bristol
John Saxbee: Bristol & Durham
Richard Chartres: Cambridge
Graham James: Oxford
John Pritchard: Oxford & Cambridge
Donald Allister: Cambridge
Christopher Foster: Cambridge
James Langstaff: Oxford
Christoper Chessun: Oxford
Alan Smith: Oxford
Nigel Stock: Durham & Ripon Cuddesdon (linked to Oxford)
Tim Thornton: Oxford
Michael Scott-Joynt: Cambridge
John Inge: Oxford