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The Bishop of Gloucester the Venerable Rachel Treweek with her husband Guy,
Rachel Treweek with her husband Guy, who is a priest in the diocese of London. She said of her appointment: ‘My overwhelming feeling is one of excitement.’ Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
Rachel Treweek with her husband Guy, who is a priest in the diocese of London. She said of her appointment: ‘My overwhelming feeling is one of excitement.’ Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

Church of England appoints most senior female bishop

This article is more than 9 years old

Rachel Treweek, the new bishop of Gloucester, hopes that appointment of women to such positions in church will now be seen as ‘normal’

A former speech therapist has been appointed the bishop of Gloucester, becoming the most senior female bishop in the Church of England.Rachel Treweek, 52, the archdeacon of Hackney, is the first female diocesan bishop and will be eligible to join lords spiritual - the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords.

Treweek, a long champion of women’s ministry, said she felt “enormously humbled” and hoped that appointments such as hers would now become normal in the church.

Speaking at a farm near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, Treweek, whose husband is a priest, said: “All through my life I’ve felt that it is very important that everyone can be the person they are called to be. Therefore, since I’ve been on the General Synod I’ve certainly played a key role in those debates. It’s my real hope that from this time on that any child, any adult, will know that they can be the person that God is calling them to be.

“I hope that – while today is incredibly special and I feel enormously humbled to be here – this will become something normal in the Church of England. I hope that we will see bishops who are men and woman, we’ll see parish priests who are men and women, and we’ll see laity – who are out there today doing amazing things – being the people that God has called them to be.”

Treweek replaces Michael Perham, who retired in November.

Raised in Hertfordshire, she studied linguistics at Reading University and worked as a speech and language therapist before entering the church.

She was ordained in 1994. She married Guy Treweek, priest-in-charge of two parishes in the City of London, in 2006, the same year she was appointed archdeacon of Northolt. In 2011 she became archdeacon of Hackney.

Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, described it as “fantastic news”. He said: “I am so thrilled for you dear Rachel, and I’m thrilled for the diocese of Gloucester, for the Church of England, for the church of God and for all of us. Yippee.”

Referring to the interment of Richard III in Leicester, the bishop of London, Richard Chartres, said: “As Richard of Gloucester is reinterred, Rachel of Gloucester is revealed. While we are very sorry to see her go, Gloucester has appointed someone with real quality and distinction.”

Treweek’s appointment follows that of Alison White, 58, as the new bishop of Hull, and Libby Lane, 48, as bishop of Stockport. Lane described Treweek as “an exceptional priest whose leadership is well proven” and a woman “both genuinely caring and deeply insightful”.

Her formal enthronement as bishop of the diocese, which is home to 600,000 people and 205 parishes, will take place at Gloucester Cathedral later this year.

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