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Bishop
Even as a student, Arthur Easterby was tipped to become a bishop.
Ambitious and able, he carefully plotted his progress to preferment including marrying his rector/archdeacon’s daughter. So it was no surprise when in due course he was elected as bishop of Daneford, just outside Dublin.
In a hurry to make his new diocese a flagship for Growth and Renewal and make a name for himself in the process, Arthur became autocratic rather than a ‘pastor pastorum’, alienating both clergy and laity.
What nobody realised was that he also carried a dark secret.
Ambitious and able, he carefully plotted his progress to preferment including marrying his rector/archdeacon’s daughter. So it was no surprise when in due course he was elected as bishop of Daneford, just outside Dublin.
In a hurry to make his new diocese a flagship for Growth and Renewal and make a name for himself in the process, Arthur became autocratic rather than a ‘pastor pastorum’, alienating both clergy and laity.
What nobody realised was that he also carried a dark secret.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 1, 2020
1 person is currently reading
About the author
Ted Woods
6 books1 followerI am a retired priest of the Church of Ireland, now living in Liverpool.
I served in a number of parishes in Ireland, North and South, most latterly in Rathfarnham, Dublin. I was a General Synod member, a Director of Ordinands, and worked in The Theological College looking after intern deacons in their final year.
For many years, I wrote a column on ministry for the Church of Ireland Gazette. For five years before retirement, I wrote a weekly ‘soap’ – ‘Down in St. David’s’ – for the Gazette about the ups and downs of clerical life. On my retirement, another writer took over.
I have self-published a book on Kindle – And Some There Were… – a light look at ‘the Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ in the clergy of the Church of Ireland’s past. The book includes twenty-five sketches, historically accurate, of priests and prelates from Reformation times to the twentieth century. With the aim of informing and entertaining, And Some There Were… features the rogues as well as the righteous, the murdered and the murdering, priests and bishops alike.
I served in a number of parishes in Ireland, North and South, most latterly in Rathfarnham, Dublin. I was a General Synod member, a Director of Ordinands, and worked in The Theological College looking after intern deacons in their final year.
For many years, I wrote a column on ministry for the Church of Ireland Gazette. For five years before retirement, I wrote a weekly ‘soap’ – ‘Down in St. David’s’ – for the Gazette about the ups and downs of clerical life. On my retirement, another writer took over.
I have self-published a book on Kindle – And Some There Were… – a light look at ‘the Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ in the clergy of the Church of Ireland’s past. The book includes twenty-five sketches, historically accurate, of priests and prelates from Reformation times to the twentieth century. With the aim of informing and entertaining, And Some There Were… features the rogues as well as the righteous, the murdered and the murdering, priests and bishops alike.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 26, 2025
I loved the opening of this book - with several different characters going "Bloody Bishop" and then giving you a bit of an introduction as to why they were annoyed with Bishop Arthur (or A.R.S.E.).
There was a great mix of characters and as someone who has experience of church life and church leadership, I liked the insights into the machinations of church politics, although it's depressing that though fictional, I suspect much of what happens is close to the real episodes which the author had probably witnessed or experienced in his time working in the church.
Bishop was an incredibly short read - at just 128 pages and I felt that it could have been fleshed out more. The story was often reported a bit too matter-of-factly. There were also quite a few chapters of backstory after the fantastic opening chapter which I think would have been better dripped in gradually so that we could have been taken more immediately to the here and now part of the story.
I will read the other two books in this series - Priest and Deacon - because I did enjoy the observational elements of Bishop and I can see that these other books are picking up on some of the great characters that were introduced in Bishop.
There was a great mix of characters and as someone who has experience of church life and church leadership, I liked the insights into the machinations of church politics, although it's depressing that though fictional, I suspect much of what happens is close to the real episodes which the author had probably witnessed or experienced in his time working in the church.
Bishop was an incredibly short read - at just 128 pages and I felt that it could have been fleshed out more. The story was often reported a bit too matter-of-factly. There were also quite a few chapters of backstory after the fantastic opening chapter which I think would have been better dripped in gradually so that we could have been taken more immediately to the here and now part of the story.
I will read the other two books in this series - Priest and Deacon - because I did enjoy the observational elements of Bishop and I can see that these other books are picking up on some of the great characters that were introduced in Bishop.
October 16, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. It's the first book in years that I've got through in less than 24 hours! It's fast paced and there's a really big twist in there. Very enjoyable, funny and very worth a read!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews