The Rt Rev Michael Leyden was announced as the next Suffragan Bishop of Penrith on Wednesday 11 March, 2026. He was consecrated at York Minster on Thursday 30 April, 2026.

Bishop Michael  has particular responsibility for further developing discipleship, vocations and leadership as well as supporting the Diocese’s 104 church schools.

He was previously the founding Dean of the northwest’s Emmanuel Theological College, heading up its Leadership Team from the organisation’s central headquarters near Warrington, Cheshire. He grew up on council estates on Merseyside before studying theology and philosophy at Oxford University and later gaining a PhD in theological ethics at the University of Chester. He has taught in universities and theological education institutions for 20 years, including alongside parochial ministry. Bishop Michael has drawn upon his working-class roots to champion the faith journey of others from under-represented backgrounds, working on national Church projects to develop more diverse training pathways and appearing in a Church of England film to support vocations for those from similar upbringings to his own.

After ordination, Bishop Michael served his curacy in the parish of Rainhill St Ann’s in the Diocese of Liverpool and then as vicar in the Benefice of Weston with Shavington in the Diocese of Chester. In both parishes he worked with lay leaders to develop a mixed ecology of church; time-honoured church working alongside new and pioneering forms. He has ministered in underprivileged, urban, sub-urban, and semi-rural contexts in various traditions. 

He is married to Anna, a vicar in the Diocese of Chester, and they have two children.