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Angela Veronica Isabel Berners-Wilson (born 1954) is a Church of England priest and chaplain. She is considered to be the first woman to be ordained as a priest in the Church of England. She was chaplain at the University of Bath from 2004 to 2016, and is now rector of a multi-church benefice.

Early life and education

Berners-Wilson was born in 1954. She studied divinity at the University of St Andrews, graduating with a Master of Theology (MTheol) degree in 1976. Although its name suggests otherwise, the MTheol from St Andrews is an undergraduate degree. In 1977, she entered Cranmer Hall, Durham, an Anglican theological college in the Open Evangelical tradition, to train for ministry.

Ordained ministry

Berners-Wilson was made a deaconess in 1979. From 1979 to 1982, she was deaconess of Christ Church, Southgate in the Diocese of London. From 1982 to 1984, she served as deaconess at St Marylebone Parish Church, also in the diocese of London. Then began more than a decade as a university chaplain: at Thames Polytechnic from 1984 to 1991, and at the University of Bristol from 1991 to 1995.

Berners-Wilson was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1987; the first year the C of E ordained women to the diaconate. She was ordained a priest on 12 March 1994. Due to her surname being alphabetically first in the list of the first 32 women ordained to the priesthood, she is considered the first woman to be ordained a priest in the C of E. The officiating bishop speculated that it would be 10 years before the first woman was appointed as a bishop.

Berners-Wilson was appointed chaplain to the University of Bath in May 2004. In February 2009 she was appointed a prebendary of Wells Cathedral. Sponsored by the Diocese of Bath and Wells, the University of Bath and the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, she had a month's sabbatical in China in June 2008. In 2016, she left the University of Bath, having been appointed rector of the Quantock Towers benefice.

Personal life

Her father was the rector of the rural parish of Frant in East Sussex. She married solicitor Andrew Sillett on 19 May 1984.

References

1. ^ "Angela Veronica Isabel Berners-Wilson". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
2. "Divinity". School of Divinity. University of St Andrew's. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
3. "Meet Sue – the first woman in 400 years of tradition at King's". Worcester News. 18 September 2007.
4. Keith Gilley (25 September 2004). "The ministry of women". The Guardian. London.
5. New University chaplain to be licensed Archived February 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, University of Bath
6. Revd Angela Berners-Wilson is to be made Prebendary of Wells Cathedral Archived 2010-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
7. University Chaplain becomes a Prebendary of Wells Cathedral, University of Bath
8. Angela Berners-Wilson (7 August 2008). "Report of a month's Sabbatical in China by Angela Berners-Wilson" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2011.
9. Tom Templeton (1 February 2004). "What happened next?". The Guardian. London.
10. Ruth Gledhill (16 January 2006). "Women bishops: celebration tinged with sadness". Times Online blog Articles of Faith. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010.
11. "Congratulations Angela and Andrew". Christ Church, Bath.

Further reading

• Angela Berners-Wilson (October 2003). "A Woman at the Table - A Personal Reflection on Ten Years of Women as Priests". Ministry Today (29).

External links

• Profile on the University of Bath website
• In Historic Service, Church of England Ordains 32 Women to the Priesthood
• BBC news article

• Women Anglican clergy
• Living people
• 21st-century English Anglican priests
• 1954 births
• 20th-century English Anglican priests
• Alumni of the University of St Andrews
• Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham
• People from Frant