Jillian Louise Calland Duff (called Jill; Worsley; born 1972) is a British

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

bishop. Since 2018, she has been the Bishop of Lancaster, a

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

in the

Diocese of Blackburn The Diocese of Blackburn is a Church of England diocese, covering much of Lancashire, created on 12 November 1926 from part of the Diocese of Manchester. The diocese includes the towns of Blackburn, Blackpool and Burnley, the cities of Lancast ...

. Previously, she had been Director of

St Mellitus College St Mellitus College is an English theological college established in 2007 by the Diocese of London and the Diocese of Chelmsford of the Church of England. It has campuses in Earl's Court, Chelmsford, Liverpool and Plymouth, with growing links wit ...

, North West, an Anglican

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, from 2013 to 2018. Before ordination, she studied chemistry at university and worked in the

oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

. After ordination in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, she served in the

Diocese of Liverpool The Diocese of Liverpool is a Church of England diocese based in Liverpool, covering Merseyside north of the River Mersey, part of West Lancashire, part of Wigan in Greater Manchester, Widnes and part of Warrington and in Cheshire (it was origi ...

in parish ministry,

chaplaincy A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

, and

church planting Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

Early life and education

Duff was born in 1972 in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

, Lancashire, England. She was educated at

Bolton School Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...

, a

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in Bolton. She studied

Natural Sciences Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1993: as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA Cantab) degree in 1997. She then studied chemistry at

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, completing her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1996. Her

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was titled "Investigations of redox-coupled proton transfer by iron-sulfur cluster systems in proteins". Her early career was spent working in the

Ordained ministry

Duff trained for

ordained ministry Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vario ...

Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England Seminary, theological college and a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was Master (college), mast ...

, an

evangelical Anglican Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

. She also studied theology during this time, and graduated from Wycliffe with a BA degree in 2002. She was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

in the

as a

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 2003 and as a

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 2004. From 2003 to 2005, Duff served her

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St Philip's Church,

Litherland Litherland is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside. It was an urban district, which included Seaforth and Ford. It neighbours Waterloo to the north, Seaforth to the west, and Bootle to the south and is approximately north ...

in the

. In 2005, she was appointed the first pioneer minister in the Diocese of Liverpool. In that role, she was tasked with

planting churches Church planting is a term referring to the process (mostly in Protestant frameworks) that results in a new local Christian congregation being established. It should be distinguished from church development, where a new service, worship center or ...

in Liverpool city centre to

evangelise In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...

to the

unchurched "Unchurched" (alternatively, "The Unchurched" or "unchurched people") means, in the broad sense, people who are Christians but not connected with a church. In research on religious participation, it refers more specifically to people who do not att ...

in their 20s and 30s. In 2009, she was additionally appointed chaplain to

Liverpool College Liverpool College is a school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). History Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian E ...

, then a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

all-through school All-through schools educate young people throughout multiple stages of their education, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establishments in many different circumstan ...

: she would continue this role part-time until 2016. In 2011, Duff left her church planting role, and was appointed a vocations development advisor in the Diocese of Liverpool and an initial ministerial education (IME) tutor. In 2012, she liaised between

, an Anglican

in London, and the Church of England's north west dioceses (Blackburn, Carlisle, Chester, Liverpool, and Manchester) to create a new theological college in the North West of England. In March 2013, she was appointed the first director of St Mellitus College, North West. St Mellitus NW is the first full-time ordination course in the North West since St Aidan's College, Birkenhead was closed in 1969. She has additionally held

Permission to Officiate A permission to officiate (PTO), also known as a licence to officiate, is a concessionary ministry licence granted by an Anglicanism, Anglican bishop. It is most commonly issued to a retired Deacon#Anglicanism, deacon, Priest#Anglican or Episcopal ...

in the Dioceses of Liverpool since 2013, of Chester since 2017, and

Diocese of St Asaph The Diocese of Saint Asaph is a diocese of the Church in Wales in north-east Wales, named after Saint Asaph, its second bishop. Geography The Anglican Diocese of St Asaph in the north-east corner of Wales stretches from the borders of Chester in ...

since 2018.

Episcopal ministry

On 13 March 2018, Duff was announced as the next Bishop of Lancaster, a

in the

. She was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

a bishop by

John Sentamu John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu, Baron Sentamu, (; ; born 10 June 1949) is a retired Anglican bishop and life peer. He was Archbishop of York and Primate of England from 2005 to 2020. Born near Kampala in Uganda, Sentamu studied law at Makerere U ...

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, on 29 June 2018 during a service at

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbis ...

. She was installed as the eighth suffragan Bishop of Lancaster in July 2018 during a service at Blackburn Cathedral.

Views

Duff is an

. She was involved in the Church of England's "Living in Love and Faith" (LLF); discussions relating to "matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage". She was also involved in "The Beautiful Story", a film released by the

Church of England Evangelical Council The Church of England Evangelical Council (CEEC) is an association of evangelical Anglican members of the Church of England. It self-describes as the collective voice of all evangelicals within the Church of England, and states its aim "to promote ...

in response to LLF which championed the Church of England's traditional teaching on sex, sexuality and

same-sex relationships A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries w ...

. She holds an "orthodox position" on sex and marriage, which means that she is against same-sex marriage. In 2023, following the news that the House of Bishop's of the Church of England was to introduce proposals for blessing same-sex relationships, she signed an open letter which stated: During the Church of England's February 2023

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly (Church of England), Church Assembly, is t ...

meeting, Duff was one of four bishops in the house to vote against the successful proposal to introduce blessings and prayers for same-sex relationships.

Personal life

Duff is married to Jeremy Duff: he is an Anglican priest who is currently the Principal of St Padarn's Institute, a theological training initiative of the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

. He is also the author of a well known Greek textbook, “The Elements of New Testament Greek (3rd edition)”. Together they have two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Jillian Louise Calland 1972 births Living people Anglican bishops of Lancaster Women Anglican bishops 21st-century English Anglican priests British academic administrators Women academic administrators People from Bolton People educated at Bolton School Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford People in the petroleum industry Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford Evangelical Anglican bishops Staff of St Mellitus College