The Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster since 2020, the Rt Revd Sophie Jelley, is to be the next Bishop of Coventry, Downing Street announced on Monday.
She will be the Church of England’s tenth woman diocesan bishop. Her diocesan, the Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, commented: “It was only ever a matter of time until such an appointment was made.”
Bishop Jelley grew up in Brighton, and studied theology and religious studies at the University of Leeds. After training at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, she was ordained deacon in 1997, and priest in 1998, to a title at St Peter’s, Shipley, in the diocese of Bradford, before becoming a mission partner with the Church Mission Society in Uganda for three years.
On her return to England in 2003, she became Resident Minister of Churt and Hindhead, in the diocese of Guildford. In 2010, she moved to be Vicar of St Andrew’s, Burgess Hill. In 2015, she moved to Durham diocese, to be Canon Missioner and Diocesan Director of Mission, Discipleship, and Ministry.
“The story of @CovCathedral, offering a message of forgiveness rather than revenge, has so much to offer our fractured world at this time. This gives me great hope for the future.”@revsophiejelley is set to be the new Bishop of Coventry.
— The Church of England (@churchofengland) November 4, 2024
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