Press release from 10 Downing Street. See also this announcement on the Coventry diocesan website, and here on the Sheffield site.
The King has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Sophie Jelley, Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster to be appointed as Bishop of Coventry.
Appointment of Bishop of Coventry: 4 November 2024
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 4 November 2024The King has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Sophie Jelley, Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster to be appointed as Bishop of Coventry, in succession to The Right Reverend Dr Christopher Cocksworth following his appointment as Dean of Windsor.
Background
Sophie was educated at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford and trained for ordination at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. She served her title at St Peter’s, Shipley, in the former Diocese of Bradford (now in the Diocese of Leeds) and was ordained priest in 1998.
She took up the role of Mission Partner with the Church Mission Society in 2000, serving at Uganda Christian University in Mukono, before returning to the UK in 2003 to take up the role of Resident Minister of St John the Evangelist, Churt with Rushmoor, in the Diocese of Guildford. In 2010, Sophie was appointed Vicar of St Andrew’s, Burgess Hill, in the Diocese of Chichester, and from 2013 was additionally Assistant Diocesan Director of Ordinands. In 2015, Sophie was appointed Canon Missioner of Durham Cathedral and Diocesan Director of Mission, Discipleship and Ministry, in the Diocese of Durham.
In 2020, Sophie took up her current role as Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster, in the Diocese of Sheffield
I don’t think they’re ready for this Jelley.
There are now at least two of us called “Paul” commenting.
Sheffield’s loss is Coventry’s gain.
This is brilliant news. I’m glad my prediction hasn’t come true – that it would be the bishop of Taunton.
How unkind.
I’m sure Coventry will be very happy {clappy).
Fr David the diocese of Coventry is in sharp decline. As the Church Times noted: 1.6 per cent of the population attend a C of E church, with an average weekly attendance of 10,600 — a figure that has fallen by one third (32 per cent) in the last ten years. Around 40 people work in the diocesan office. Even though there is a continued plan to establish 150 mission hubs by 2030, Bishop Jelley will have to manage the closure of a significant number of churches as the downward trend seems irreversible.
To the first three comments here:
Paul: I don’t understand what you mean; or am I missing some irony?
Cheryl: why?
Michael: why is it ‘brilliant’?
Straight into the House of Lords too.
Not quite. Once she has been elected and her election has been confirmed, she will go to the head of the queue for a seat in the Lords. She will then have to wait for the next vacancy.