THE next Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich is to be the Area Bishop of Stepney, in London diocese, Dr Joanne Grenfell, Downing Street announced on Friday.
She might be the primary woman to function Bishop of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich.
Dr Grenfell succeeds the Rt Revd Martin Seeley, who retired on 1 March after ten years within the post (News, 14 March). The Rt Revd Graeme Knowles has been the Acting Bishop since then.
Dr Grenfell has been the Bishop of Stepney since 2019, and has served because the Church of England’s lead bishop for safeguarding since 2023.
Dr Grenfell, a former Church Times diarist, trained for the ministry at Westcott House, Cambridge, and was ordained deacon in 2000, and priest in 2001. She began her ministerial life in Liverpool diocese, before spending ten years in Sheffield diocese, from 2003 until 2013. Here, she held posts including diocesan director of ordinands and dean of girls’s ministry. In 2013, she was appointed Archdeacon of Portsdown, in Portsmouth diocese. Before ordination, she was a lecturer in English at Oriel College, Oxford.
Describing the people of Suffolk as “warm and welcoming”, Dr Grenfell said in an announcement announcing her appointment on Friday: “I enjoy constructing diverse teams stuffed with individuals who have a lot better ideas than I’d ever have alone. I hope to develop a culture where we will challenge and support one another to do the most effective we will to live out the excellent news of Jesus Christ on this place.”
She continued: “I’ve needed to do some creative strategic work in areas where I’ve served previously, including developing a vision, putting together funding applications, and overseeing the implementation of mission projects to assist the church reach latest people, young people, and folks from lower income communities.
“God has shown us how the Church can grow, across different traditions and contexts. I’m keen to affix in with what [the diocese is] already doing here, with Growing in God, Lightwave, and Inspiring Ipswich, and to work out together what God is asking us to next.’’
She also spoke in regards to the importance of safeguarding. “We can all contribute to a culture where victims and survivors are seen, heard, cared for, and learned from,’’ she said. “I’m looking forward to working with safeguarding professionals and volunteers across the diocese.’’
Speaking to the Church Times on Friday, Dr Grenfell elaborated on safeguarding, explaining that her term of office as lead safeguarding Bishop will come to an end next April. “I deeply care in regards to the work, and, particularly, the work we’ve began around future safeguarding structures,” she said. “I’m really committed to seeing that through, beyond next spring — we’d like to work out the small print of doing that.”
She continued: “There’s a team of recent safeguarding bishops, so it’s something that we share. But I also think that safeguarding is a thread that runs through all ministry; it’s a few healthy church and a healthy culture, in order that commitment isn’t going to go away. And I do know that there are really excellent safeguarding professionals already on this diocese. I’m keen to get to know them and work with them.”
Speaking about Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process, she said: “I recognise that it is a really difficult and difficult issue for the Church, and that truly we’ve come a good distance by way of listening to one another higher and learning different perspectives.
“Personally, I welcome the Prayers of Love and Faith. I need gay and lesbian people to have the ability to precise their deep love and commitment, to have the ability to come back to church and to hunt God’s blessing for that, and to seek out a welcoming community.
“I’m really committed to working with individuals who have gotten different views and to creating space for that, but I’m also really clear that I need every church to be a spot where LGBTQI+ persons are seen, secure, heard, and revered.”
Looking ahead to her move to the diocese of St Edmundsbury & Ipswich, she said that she looked forward to attending to know its people and to discovering their different gifts. “My aim, my attitude, is to be really conscious of the gifts of individuals locally and to try to attract those out as much as possible,” she said.
Bishop Knowles said that Dr Grenfell would “bring along with her a wealthy mixture of experience within the Church. This includes her invaluable insight into safeguarding.”
Dr Grenfell is married to the Revd Dr James Grenfell, who’s the Chaplain to the University of East London; he’ll remain in his current post. They have three children.
The date of her installation is yet to be confirmed, but she is predicted to take up the post within the autumn.
