In that year he was appointed director of the Ministry Division of the Archbishops' Council and a priest vicar at Westminster Abbey, posts he held until the confirmation of his election to the See of Lincoln.

[13] He was consecrated as a bishop on 21 September 2011 in Westminster Abbey and enthroned in Lincoln Cathedral on 12 November 2011.

[16] Following information provided by police, Lowson was suspended from office by Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, on 16 May 2019.

According to Welby, the suspension was in relation to a safeguarding children inquiry, but "is a neutral act" and there has been "no allegation that [he] has committed abuse of a child or vulnerable adult".

[17] He accepted a misconduct penalty in relation to his mishandling of "a disclosure about a member of clergy in the Lincoln diocese in early 2019" and returned to work in February 2021.