A sixth woman bishop has been appointed in the Church of England, along with a male evangelical into a post once associated traditional Anglo-Catholicism.
The Queen has approved the nomination of Dr Graham Tomlin, Dean of the phenomenally successful evangelical training college, St Mellitus, in the diocese of London, to be Bishop of Kensington.
Dr Tomlin, former chaplain at Jesus College, Oxford and also former vice-principal of Wycliffe Hall, is a highly respected evangelical theologian who comes out of the influential Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB).
As Bishop of Kensington he will pastor to many of the churches planted in London by HTB.
At the same time, the Queen approved the appointment of Rev Anne Hollinghurst, Vicar of St Peter's in St Albans, to be the new Bishop of Aston. Her appointment will bring the number of women bishops in the Church of England up to six and she is the second new woman bishop to be announced this week.
Hollinghurst described herself as both a "contemplative" and a "want-to-make-it-happen" person who likes walking and being outdoors and is keen on environmental issues. Her other interests include reading, the arts and real ale pubs.
She said: "I hope to contribute my experience and practice in mission in a whole variety of contexts, in walking alongside the many clergy and lay people of the diocese, who are doing all sorts of wonderful and exciting things—helping to focus in together on God's priorities and God's call. A lot of that is about encouragement and in the realising and releasing of gifts. Each step of my journey has been enormously exciting and stretching and now I take a rather large gulp as I look towards this next step in ministry to which I believe God is calling me."
The Bishop of Birmingham, David Urquhart, who will be her diocesan, said: "I am delighted that Anne has accepted the invitation to join in leading the mission of God across Birmingham and region. She comes with a wealth of experience of nurturing discipleship and growing the Church. I look forward to having a new episcopal colleague and to seeing faith in Jesus Christ flourish in this generation."
