The Bishop of Lichfield will commission the Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst as an Assistant Bishop in the Diocese of Lichfield on 20th September as she leaves her post as Suffragan Bishop of Aston in Birmingham Diocese after nine years.
Following her episcopal role in Birmingham, she is shortly taking up the post of Principal of the Queen’s Foundation, an ecumenical theological training and research institution serving Anglican, Methodist and many black majority / black Pentecostal churches. Her appointment to Queen’s, her main role in the future, was announced in April.
The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave said:
“I have been in conversation with Bishop Anne since April about the possibility of her becoming an Assistant Bishop in Lichfield Diocese to continue the episcopal dimension of her ministry on a voluntary basis as time allows with her new role. Among other areas, she brings with her significant experience of, and interest in, interfaith work. In recognition of this additional and valuable contribution I have asked the Archbishop of Canterbury’s permission for her to also become a member of the Diocesan House of Bishops. I am pleased to say that he has given this and Bishop Anne’s appointment his warm support.”
The Bishop of Lichfield continued:
“I have much enjoyed working with Bishop Anne, as a sister bishop in the West Midlands and as a member of the Church of England’s College and House of Bishops. I am delighted that she has accepted my invitation to become an Assistant Bishop in our diocese, and I look forward to the wisdom, gifts and grace that she will bring to us. We have a close relationship with Queens, and I hope that her new pattern of involvement with us will help to strengthen that link. It is also very welcome that she and her husband, the Revd Steve Hollinghurst, intend in due course to move over the border from neighbouring Birmingham to live within Lichfield Diocese. Please pray for her and for Steve as they begin a new chapter in their life together.”
Bishop Anne said:
“I greatly welcome this opportunity to make a contribution as an Assistant Bishop to the life of Lichfield Diocese alongside what will be my main responsibilities at the Queen’s Foundation, and I am grateful to Bishop Michael for the invitation. Having valued working with and relating to him and all the Lichfield bishops, especially though the West Midlands Regional Bishops’ group, I look forward very much to having them as colleagues and being able to offer some ministry alongside theirs in service of the people and parishes of the wider diocese.”
ENDS