Paul Thomas

Paul Richard Thomas SSC (born 1975) is a British Anglican bishop who has served as Bishop of Oswestry, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Lichfield, and the provincial episcopal visitor for the western half of the Province of Canterbury (a position formerly held by the Bishop of Ebbsfleet) since February 2023. From 2011, he was vicar of St James's Church, Paddington.

Early life and education Thomas was born in 1975 and raised in Carmarthenshire, Wales. He studied medieval English at Cardiff University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1996. He continued his studies and graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) degree in 1998 He graduated with a further BA in 2001 and an MA in 2006.

In 2011, Thomas was appointed vicar of St James's Church, Paddington. The Bishop of Oswestry is also the provincial episcopal visitor for traditionalist Anglo-Catholic parishes (i.e. those which reject the ordination of women as priests and bishops) in the thirteen dioceses of the western half of the Province of Canterbury. This role had formerly been undertaken by the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, and as such Thomas is the first PEV Bishop of Oswestry.

On 31 March 2025, Thomas was made an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Birmingham.

Selected works