Rod Thomas (bishop)
[3] He ended his business career as Director of Employment and Environmental Affairs at the Confederation of British Industry, before leaving in 1991 to train for ordained ministry.[6] At the age of 12, under the influence of Billy Graham, John Stott and Maurice Wood, and having attended Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon, he became an Anglican.[10] On 5 May 2015, Thomas was announced as the next Bishop of Maidstone, a provincial episcopal visitor for conservative evangelical members and parishes of the church.[12][13] By 19 December 2016, 71 parishes had passed resolutions for conservative evangelical reasons, of which 31 had requested Alternative Episcopal Oversight (AEO) from the Bishop of Maidstone.[16] Thomas is additionally an honorary assistant bishop in the dioceses of Birmingham, Bristol, Canterbury, Chelmsford, Chester, Ely, Exeter, Lichfield, London, Manchester, Norwich, Oxford, Rochester, Sheffield and Southwark.