THE next Suffragan Bishop of Taunton in the diocese of Bath & Wells is to be the Ven. Dr Fiona Gibson, currently the Archdeacon of Ludlow, in the diocese of Hereford.
She will succeed the Rt Revd Ruth Worsley, who earlier this year was appointed the Interim Bishop of Liverpool, just under a month after the resignation of Dr John Perumbalath (News, 27 March). Bishop Worsley is serving as the Suffragan Bishop of Wigan, after the Archbishop of York petitioned the King to revive the see.
Dr Gibson, 55, was born in north London and studied for a B.Ed. (Hons) in history and education at Homerton College, Cambridge, before becoming a primary-school teacher. She later moved from teaching to become a lay children’s minister at her home church, working closely with the church school; and it was suggested that she consider ordained ministry.
She trained at Oak Hill Theological College before her ordination as a deacon in 2011 and as a priest in 2012. She served her title at Christ Church, Bedford, in the diocese of St Albans, until 2014, when she was appointed Vicar of All Saints’, Cople, in the same diocese.
In 2021, she became Archdeacon of Ludlow and was installed as a Prebendary of Hereford Cathedral. She also chaired the Hereford Diocesan Board of Education. Until July, she chaired The Junia Network, a group supporting ordained Evangelical Anglican women, and was a General Synod member.
During the February Synod sessions, she chaired the revision committee for the draft Mission and Pastoral Measure, which covers church closures and pastoral reorganisation (News, 28 February). Both her current and next diocesan Bishop have led calls for more of the Church Commissioners’ money to be distributed to dioceses to prevent stipendiary clergy cuts (News, 1 July). In 2023, the diocese of Bath & Wells announced plans to make savings of £450,000 each year by reducing stipendiary parish posts from 178 to 150 (Features, 18 October 2024).
Dr Gibson also chaired the revision committee for the national Redress Scheme for abuse survivors (News, 12 July 2024).
She received her doctorate in divinity from the University of Aberdeen earlier this year. Her doctoral thesis was on the subject of accidie (sloth, one of the Seven Deadly Sins), or, as she puts it, “the sin you’ve probably never heard of but are almost certainly committing!”
Dr Gibson is married to David, who works in financial services, and they have two adult children. She enjoys reading, playing board games, listening to podcasts, walking, photography, and wild swimming.
She said that she was “absolutely delighted” to return to the diocese in which she had holidayed with family as a child. She had, she said, “many happy memories of exploring Exmoor and further afield in Somerset. To be able to return to such a beautiful place, while serving its people as Bishop of Taunton, is both deeply humbling and a great joy.”
Dr Gibson hoped that her ministry in both urban and very rural settings would help her to serve the diversity of people in the diocese.
The Bishop of Bath & Wells, Dr Michael Beasley, said that she had “done an outstanding job as the Archdeacon of Ludlow and has a huge amount of expertise that will help us as we seek to grow our church and our increase our work within our communities across Somerset. Her rural experience and educational background will, in particular, be a wonderful gift to us.”