Helen-Ann Hartley

Helen-Ann Macleod Hartley (born 28 May 1973) is a British Anglican bishop and academic. She has been the Bishop of Ripon in the Church of England, an area bishop of the Diocese of Leeds, since 2018. She previously served as Bishop of Waikato in New Zealand from 2014 to 2017. She was the first woman to have trained as a priest in the Church of England to join the episcopate,[2] and the third woman to become a bishop of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.[3]


Helen-Ann Hartley
Bishop of Ripon
Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley
ChurchChurch of England
DioceseDiocese of Leeds
In office4 February 2018  present
PredecessorJames Bell
Other postsBishop of Waikato, New Zealand (2014–2017)
Orders
Ordination2005 (deacon)
2006 (priest)
Consecration22 February 2014
by Philip Richardson
Personal details
Birth nameHelen-Ann Macleod Francis
Born (1973-05-28) 28 May 1973
Edinburgh, Midlothian, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
DenominationAnglican
ResidenceRipon, Leeds, UK
ParentsJames "Jim" Francis & Patricia "Pat" (both priests)[1]
SpouseMyles Hartley
ProfessionBishop and academic

Early life and education

Hartley was born Helen-Ann Francis on 28 May 1973 in Edinburgh, Scotland.[3][4][5] She was baptised in Coldingham Priory, Coldingham, Berwickshire, where her father was the minister.[6] She spent her childhood in Sunderland, England. Her father was a Church of Scotland minister but the family moved to Anglicanism in the 1980s.[3][6] In 1987, her father became a Church of England priest and served in the Diocese of Durham;[7] he was later made an honorary canon of Durham Cathedral;[8] and Helen-Ann's mother also later became a priest.[1] Francis was educated in Sunderland at Benedict Biscop Primary School (a Church of England primary school) and St Anthony’s Secondary School (an all-girls Roman Catholic secondary school; now St Anthony's Girls' Catholic Academy) before attending university.[6][8]

She has attended a number of universities where she studied theology. She graduated from the University of St Andrews with an undergraduate Master of Theology (MTheol) degree in 1995, and from Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) with a Master of Theology (MTh) degree in 1996. PTS is a seminary associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Later, she studied at the University of Oxford and graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in applied theology, a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in 2000, and a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 2005.[3][4] Her DPhil thesis concerned the portrayal of manual labour in Judaism and Early Christianity.[9]

Ordained ministry

Hartley is a fourth generation cleric.[10] She was an acolyte at Durham Cathedral during her youth.[8] She attended the Oxford Ministry Course at Ripon College Cuddesdon to undergo ministerial formation.[2]

Hartley was ordained in the Church of England: made a deacon at Michaelmas 2005 (24 September), by Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford, at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford,[11] and ordained priest the Michaelmas following (24 September 2006), by Colin Fletcher, Bishop of Dorchester, at Dorchester Abbey.[12] She then began her ministry as a curate in a group of parishes in Wheatley, Oxfordshire.[2] In 2007, she became curate at St Mary and St Nicholas Church, Littlemore.[9] In addition to serving as a curate, she worked as a lecturer in New Testament studies at Ripon College Cuddesdon.[8] She later became the theological college's Director of Biblical Studies.[10]

In November 2011, Hartley was selected to become Dean of Tikanga Pakeha, i.e. European heritage, students at St John's College, Auckland in New Zealand. The college is co-deputised by three deans who represent the three main peoples of New Zealand: Pakeha, Maori and Polynesians.[9][13] She originally went to St John's College in 2010 to research for a book, Making Sense of the Bible, before moving to New Zealand to take up the appointment of Dean in early 2012.[9][14]

Episcopal ministry

In September 2013, Hartley was elected to become the seventh Bishop of Waikato.[10] She was consecrated on 22 February 2014,[14] by Philip Richardson, Archbishop of New Zealand (with co-primates Brown Turei, Te Pīhopa o Aotearoa, and Winston Halapua, Bishop of Polynesia, and other bishops) at St Peter's Cathedral, Hamilton (i.e. Waikato's cathedral).[1] She was the first woman who had trained and served as a priest in the Church of England to become a bishop:[8] at the time of her election, women couldn't be consecrated to the episcopate of the Church of England.[3] The Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki is unique within the Anglican Communion as it is led by co-diocesan bishops: Hartley and Philip Richardson, as Bishop of Taranaki, have joint oversight of the whole diocese.[8]

On 9 November 2017, it was announced that Hartley was to become the Bishop of Ripon, an area bishop in the Church of England Diocese of Leeds.[15] She was duly installed at Ripon Cathedral on 4 February 2018.[16] She is the youngest bishop in the Church of England; being aged 44 when she took up the appointment.[17]

Personal life

In 2003, Helen-Ann Francis married Myles Hartley,[5] a musician and church organist.[8]

Selected works

  • Making Sense of the Bible: Atonement and Redemption. SPCK. 2011. ISBN 978-0-281-06405-2.
  • Thinking About the Bible. National Book Network. 2015. ISBN 978-1-5064-0101-0.
  • We worked night and day that we might not burden any of you (1 Thessalonians 2:9) (DPhil). Oxford University. 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2018.

References

  1. http://anglicantaonga.org.nz/news/tikanga_pakeha/heaven
  2. Percy, Martyn. "Rejoicing as the Revd Dr Helen-Ann Macleod Hartley is consecrated as Bishop of Waikato and Taranaki". News. Diocese of Oxford. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  3. Gardner, Chris (5 September 2013). "Waikato elects first Anglican woman bishop". Waikato Times. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  4. "Helen-Ann Macleod Hartley". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  5. "Waikato, Bishop of". Who's Who 2018. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2017. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.281824. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  6. "Unity in Diversity". Anglican Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  7. "James More MacLeod Francis". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  8. "North East Clergywoman Makes History". News and Events. Diocese of Durham. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  9. "New dean for St John's College". Taonga News. Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  10. "English female priest Helen-Ann Hartley elected as New Zealand bishop". Episcopal News Service. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  11. "Michaelmas ordinations". Church Times (#7438). 30 September 2005. p. 25. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 15 July 2019 via UK Press Online archives.
  12. "Michaelmas ordinations". Church Times (#7491). 6 October 2006. p. 27. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 15 July 2019 via UK Press Online archives.
  13. "The Faculty". The College of St John the Evangelist. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  14. "Meet the Bishops". About Us. Anglican Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  15. Diocese of Leeds — New Bishop of Ripon (Accessed 9 November 2017)
  16. Diocese of Leeds — Hundreds pack Ripon Cathedral (Accessed 5 February 2018)
  17. "New Bishop of Ripon announced as Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley". Ripon Cathedral. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
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