Genieve Mary Blackwell (born 1962) is an Australian Anglican bishop who has served as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Melbourne since June 2015, and previously served as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn from 2012 to 2015. She was the first woman to be consecrated as a bishop in the state of

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and the third in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Early life and family

Blackwell is the daughter of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister. She was born in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and her family subsequently moved to the Wagga Wagga district in

. She is married to John Silversides, a retired prison chaplain, and has two adult children.

Training and ministry

After attending the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, where she became an Anglican, Blackwell studied at

Moore Theological College Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The president of the Moore Theological College Council is ''ex officio'' t ...

from 1989 to 1992. She was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in the Diocese of Sydney in 1993 and was subsequently ordained

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in the Diocese of Bathurst in 1998Presbyterian Church (USA) online report
/ref> where she ministered in the parishes of

Gulgong Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands and the wider Central West regions of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is situated within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is located ...

and Grenfell. She moved to

Yass Yass may refer to: People * Catherine Yass (born 1963), painter * Yazz, a British pop singer from the 1980s and 1990s * Jeff Yass (born 1956), options trader, managing director and one of the five founders of the Philadelphia-based Susquehanna I ...

in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in 2005. From 2007 to the time of her appointment as bishop she was

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

for Rural Ministry with the particular responsibility of ministering to clergy in the mainly rural diocese during a long period of

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

. On 3 December 2011 her appointment as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn was announced. She was consecrated on 31 March 2012 and commissioned as Regional Bishop of

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

at a service held at

St Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn The St Saviour's Cathedral is the heritage-listed cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, New South Wales, Australia. The cathedral is dedicated to Jesus, in his title of Saviour. ...

. Blackwell was consecrated by the Bishop of Newcastle,

Brian Farran Brian George Farran (born 15 December 1944) is an Australian retired Anglican bishop. He was the Diocese of Newcastle (Australia), Bishop of Newcastle in New South Wales. Farran was educated at the Australian National University and St John' ...

, as the then Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, was opposed to the ordination of women as priests and bishops. Blackwell was also appointed as the rector of the parish of

Turvey Park Turvey Park is an inner southern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. Its boundaries are defined by Fernleigh Road to the south, Glenfield Road to the west, Coleman Street to the north and to the east by Willans Hill. Tur ...

, a suburb of Wagga Wagga. On 19 December 2014 it was announced that Blackwell had been appointed an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Melbourne. She was commissioned on 19 June 2015 as assistant bishop with responsibility for parishes in the city and eastern suburbs, now called the Marmingatha episcopate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwell, Genieve 21st-century Anglican bishops in Australia Women Anglican bishops Living people Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne 1962 births