THE Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster since 2020, the Rt Revd Sophie Jelley, is to be the following Bishop of Coventry, Downing Street announced on Monday.
She shall 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 spiritual studies on 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, within the diocese of Bradford, before becoming a mission partner with the Church Mission Society in Uganda for 3 years.
On her return to England in 2003, she became Resident Minister of Churt and Hindhead, within 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.
On Monday, she recalled starting her episcopal ministry “behind a screen” through the Covid-19 pandemic and paid tribute to the support, warmth, and generosity of Sheffield diocese. Supporting lay leaders and young people had been “greatly rewarding”. In a brief film, she spoke of Coventry’s “unique ministry of reconciliation”.
She will join a diocese just barely larger in size than Sheffield but with a smaller and far less dense population: 895,000 compared with 1.3 million. Two-thirds of the parishes are designated as rural or semi-rural. Currently 1.6 per cent of the population attend a C of E church, falling to 0.8 per cent for youngsters. It has a complete worshipping community of roughly 14,400 with a mean weekly attendance of 10,600 — a figure that has fallen by one third (32 per cent) within the last ten years.
The diocese has been capable of draw on unallocated historic funds lately, and numbers of stipendiary clergy have been maintained at 106. Around 40 people work within the diocesan office, including a variety of “enabler” roles (healthy church; growing faith; evangelism and discipleship; intercultural mission). It has a goal to determine 150 recent worshipping communities by the top of the last decade.
The average age of the worshipping community is 54, and the Statement of Needs says that “of all of the opportunities we now have across the diocese working with children, families and young people is seen as the best”.
Bishop Jelley, who has three children, has described coming to faith after being invited by a friend to a church youth group. She has an older brother who has cerebral palsy and is learning disabled and has spoken of her pride in him, and of the importance of funding social care.
Coventry’s statement of needs describes the diocese because the “diocese of reconciliation”. This includes, it says, “valuing the breadth of traditions inside the Church of England”, in a diocese with an Evangelical tradition. It has “managed to mix being a diocese which championed the ministry of girls, while nurturing those priests and parishes who couldn’t, in theological conscience, accept this ministry.” Among the members of the vacancy-in-see committee was the Revd Simon Oakes, Vicar of St Luke’s Holbrooks, which is affiliated with The Society.
The diocese sought someone who would “will have the opportunity to support and minister to each those that do and people who don’t use the Prayers of Love and Faith”. Bishop Jelley has been a member of the implementation group for Living in Love and Faith, tasked with considering “what shall be required in an effort to ensure freedom of conscience for clergy”, including bishops (News, 5 May 2023).
The previous Bishop of Coventry, Dr Christopher Cocksworth, announced that he was leaving the diocese after 15 years to turn into Dean of Windsor (News, 23 June 2023). The Bishop of Taunton, the Rt Revd Ruth Worsley, has been serving as Acting Bishop of Coventry. The suffragan see of Warwick has been vacant for greater than a yr.
During her time in Sheffield, Bishop Jelley served as sponsoring bishop for assistant curates, chaired the Board of Education, the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee, and convened the Diversity in Participation group, working on racial justice and net zero. Dr Wilcox praised her “extraordinary gifts in discernment”. She can also be the national episcopal lead for lay ministries.
He name was recommend by the Crown Nominations Commission within the wake of two failures to achieve this for other sees lately (News, 13 September). In February, the General Synod is to debate proposed changes to the system. Two members of the vacancy-in-see committee in Coventry were members of the identical congregation. Under the proposed changes, this is able to not be possible.
Since 2014, 20 male diocesan bishops have been appointed.
