He studied at University College, Durham, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1982.

[2] Lines was sponsored through university by the British Army: he held an undergraduate cadetship from 1979 to 1982.

[8] Lines was ordained for the South American Mission Society (SAMS) as a deacon in 1997 and as a priest in 1998.

[10] On 8 June 2017, it was announced that Lines had been chosen as the Missionary Bishop to Europe of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).

[5][14] One priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church stated that his consecration "offers new life for bereft orthodox Anglicans in Scotland".

[15] On 24 November 2017 the congregation of Christ Church, Harris, a Scottish Episcopal church in the Western Isles, announced that they could no longer remain under the oversight of their local bishop, Kevin Pearson, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, owing to his support of the SEC's approval of same-sex marriage.

In a June 2017 pastoral letter Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Communion, stated the following:[19] The idea of a "missionary bishop" who was not a Church of England appointment, would be a cross-border intervention and, in the absence of a Royal Mandate, would carry no weight in the Church of England.

Historically, there has been resistance to cross-border interventions and ordinations from the earliest years of the universal Church's existence.

[...] I would also like to remind you of the 1988 Lambeth Conference resolution number 72 on episcopal responsibilities and diocesan boundaries.