Background
Thomas was born in 1954 in London, England.
Thomas was born in 1954 in London, England.
He was educated in Ealing, West London. He studied economics at the London School of Economics, and graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science (Bachelor of Science) degree. Having completed his degree, Thomas joined Her Majesty"s Civil Service.
At the age of 12, under the influence of Billy Graham, John Stott, Maurice Wood and having attended Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon, he became an Anglican.
Since September 2015, he has been the Bishop of Maidstone, a provincial episcopal visitor for conservative evangelical members and parishes of the church. He left the Civil Service to become a researcher for the Institute of Directors. 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.
He served his curacy at Street Andrew"s Church, Plymouth.
He remained at Street Andrew"s Church as a curate from 1995 to 1999. From 1999 to 2005, he was priest-in-charge of Street Matthew"s Church, Elburton.
From 2005 to 2015, he was vicar of Elburton. In 2012, he was additionally appointed a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral.
Outside his parish ministry, Thomas holds a number of appointments.
Reform is a conservative evangelical Anglican organisation that opposes the ordination of women to the priesthood and promotes conservative attitudes to homosexuality. He has served as chairman of the organisation since 2007. Episcopal ministry On 5 May 2015, he was announced as the next Bishop of Maidstone, a provincial episcopal visitor for conservative evangelical members and parishes of the church.
On 23 September 2015, he was consecrated a bishop at Canterbury Cathedral by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Thomas has been described as a complementarian evangelical.
In 2006, it was announced that Jeffrey John (Dean of Street Albans) had entered into a civil partnership with his male partner. Thomas replied to this news: "lieutenant is something that will only serve to deepen the crisis that the Church of England faces over the whole issue of human sexuality.".
He has been a member of the Reform organisation for nearly two decades and chairman since 2007. He is a member of the executive committee of the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE), a missionary society set up by the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans.