THE Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster since 2020, the Rt Revd Sophie Jelley, is to be the next Bishop of Coventry, Downing Street announced on Monday.
She will 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.”
On Tuesday, Bishop Jelley described how an invitation to a church youth group when she was a teenager had “changed my life”, and spoke of the potential for simple invitation to lead to growth “in all kinds of places in all kinds of ways”.
Bishop Jelley grew up in Brighton, and studied theology and religious studies at 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, in the diocese of Bradford, before becoming a mission partner with the Church Mission Society in Uganda for three years.
On her return to England in 2003, she became Resident Minister of Churt and Hindhead, in 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 Tuesday, she described how her seven years in Churt had given her “first-hand experience of ministering in community, where the seasons are really important, and how village life can revolve around the church, if you really make the most of the relationships within the community”. It had been important to thank the laypeople serving around Alcester for the “care and time they give to looking after village churches”, she said.
On Monday, she recalled beginning her episcopal ministry “behind a screen” during 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 short film, she spoke of Coventry’s “unique ministry of reconciliation”.
She will join a diocese just slightly larger in size than Sheffield but with a smaller and much 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 children. It has a total worshipping community of approximately 14,400 with an average weekly attendance of 10,600 — a figure that has fallen by one third (32 per cent) in the last ten years.
The diocese has been able to draw on unallocated historic funds in recent years, and numbers of stipendiary clergy have been maintained at 106. Around 40 people work in the diocesan office, including a number of “enabler” roles (healthy church; growing faith; evangelism and discipleship; intercultural mission). It has a goal to establish 150 new worshipping communities by the end of the decade.
The average age of the worshipping community is 54, and the Statement of Needs says that “of all the opportunities we have across the diocese working with children, families and young people is seen as the greatest”.
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. She has worked with children and young people since running a Sunday school group for five-year-olds as a 13-year-old, and in Sheffield has championed the amplification of young people’s voices.
On Tuesday, she praised Coventry’s “imaginative” engagement with children and young people. Her tour had begun at Blue Coat C of E School in Coventry, where she joined collective worship with Year 11, and praised its racial diversity and “opportunity for all”. She also spent time sitting on the carpet with children attending the “Simply Sing” after-school club at Kineton C of E Primary School.
A keen soprano, who enjoys the music of Tallis and Purcell, she described how the Bethel song “The goodness of God” has served as her “anthem” during the CNC process, and of her joy on finding it had been chosen by both the gospel choir at Blue Coat C of E School and the congregation at Alcester.
Coventry’s statement of needs describes the diocese as the “diocese of reconciliation”. This includes, it says, “valuing the breadth of traditions within the Church of England”, in a diocese with an Evangelical tradition. It has “managed to combine being a diocese which championed the ministry of women, while nurturing those priests and parishes who could not, 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 be able to support and minister to both those who do and those who do not 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 will be required in order to ensure freedom of conscience for clergy”, including bishops (News, 5 May 2023).
Diocesan goals include the establishment of 150 new worshipping communities by the end of the decade. Bishop Jelley has been part of the Leading Your Church Into Growth team for 20 years, and, on Tuesday, offered encouragement about the power of inviting people to church in a “simple” way: “There is something going on; it’s going to be great; I am going; would you like to come?”
“Everyone can let those sentences fall out of their mouth,” she said “The worst that can happen here in the UK in 2024 is ‘No thank you.’ Someone did that for me, and it totally changed my life. I probably wouldn’t be the Bishop of Coventry-to-be without that invitation.”
The previous Bishop of Coventry, Dr Christopher Cocksworth, announced that he was leaving the diocese after 15 years to become 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 more than a year.
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 is also the national episcopal lead for lay ministries.
He name was put forward by the Crown Nominations Commission in the wake of two failures to do so for other sees in recent years (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 same congregation. Under the proposed changes, this would not be possible.
Since 2014, 20 male diocesan bishops have been appointed.