Joanne Caladine Bailey Wells (née Bailey; born 24 June 1965) is a British Anglican bishop,

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, and academic. Since 29 June 2016, she has been the

Bishop of Dorking The Bishop of Dorking is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the town of Dorking in Surrey. However, the bishop of ...

, a suffragan bishop in the

Diocese of Guildford __NOTOC__ The Diocese of Guildford is a Church of England diocese covering eight and half of the eleven districts in Surrey, much of north-east Hampshire and a parish in Greater London. The cathedral is Guildford Cathedral and the bishop is the ...

. Previously, she was a lecturer in the Old Testament and biblical theology at

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and membe ...

, and then associate professor of Bible and Ministry at

Duke Divinity School The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 regular ...

, Duke University, North Carolina. From 2013 until she fully took up her bishop's role on 29 June 2016, she had served as Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Early life and education

Wells was born on 24 June 1965 in Bradford,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. She was educated at

Queenswood School Queenswood School is a girls-only independent school located near Hatfield, Hertfordshire, twenty miles from London. It offers admission at ages 11, 13 or 16 (for sixth form). The ''Good Schools Guide'' 2013 described Queenswood as "a girls' ...

, an all-girls independent school in Hertfordshire, and attended

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

at Marlborough College, an independent school in Wiltshire. She took a

gap year A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...

before university, and spent some time at a Christian mission in

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

, South Africa. She

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

into Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1984, only the second year that the college admitted women, to study

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 ...

. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

(BA) degree in 1987: 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. Th ...

(MA Cantab) degree in 1990. During her time at Cambridge, she was awarded a half-blue for ice hockey. She was awarded a

Rotarian Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

scholarship to continue her studies at a university in America. She chose to study

intercultural communication Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication. It describes the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally appear w ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. While in the United States, she became involved in the Episcopal Church and was a

youth pastor Youth ministry, also commonly referred to as youth group, is an age-specific religious ministry of faith groups or other religious organizations, usually from ages 12 to 30, whose mission is to involve and engage with young people who attend th ...

at the Messiah Episcopal Church in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

. She graduated with a

post-graduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

(MA) degree in 1989 or 1990. While in America, she felt the call to ordination, and returned to England. She studied theology at

St John's College, Durham St John's College is a college of the University of Durham, United Kingdom. It is one of only two "recognised colleges" of the university, the other being St Chad's. This means that it is financially and constitutionally independent of the univer ...

, graduating with a second BA in 1992. She then trained for ordained ministry at

Cranmer Hall, Durham Cranmer Hall is a Church of England theological college based at Durham, England. Cranmer Hall forms part of St John's College, Durham which is a recognised college of Durham University. It stands in the Open Evangelical tradition. Cranmer Hall ...

, 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, ...

that is part of St John's College. When she started theological college, women were not yet ordained as priests in the Church of England. She continued her studies, and graduated from the University of Durham with a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

(PhD) degree in 1997. 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 "A holy nation: Israel's call to holiness in a canonical perspective".

Ordained ministry

Wells 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 ...

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 Britai ...

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 Chur ...

in 1995 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 partic ...

in 1996. From 1995 to 2001, she was part of the ministry team of

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refound ...

: she served as chaplain from 1995 to 1998 and as

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

from 1998 to 2001. Having been ordained into a chaplaincy post, she missed out on the usual

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 ...

training post. From 1997 to 2001, Wells was Director of Studies in theology at

and an affiliated lecturer in the Faculty of Divinity,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. From 2001 to 2005, she was a lecturer in Old Testament and Biblical theology at

, an Anglican

. She also served as the college's pastoral tutor. From 2005 to 2012, she was an associate professor of Bible and Ministry at

and director of its Anglican Episcopal House of Studies. In February 2013, Wells was named as the next chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her first duty as chaplain was to carry the primatial cross at the enthronement of the new Archbishop of Canterbury,

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for ...

, at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. She had known Welby when they were both students at Durham. She was also made an

Canon Theologian A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

Liverpool Cathedral Liverpool Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool, built on St James's Mount in Liverpool, and the seat of the Bishop of Liverpool. It may be referred to as the Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool (as recorded in th ...

in 2015.

Episcopal ministry

On 24 March 2016, Wells was announced as the next

, a suffragan bishopric in the

. She was consecrated a bishop on 29 June 2016 by

, the Archbishop of Canterbury, during a service at Canterbury Cathedral. On 17 October 2022, it was announced that Wells would be leaving Guildford to become the Bishop for Episcopal Ministry in the Anglican Communion; she will take up the post in January 2023 and will be based in the Anglican Communion Office.

Personal life

In 1994, the then Jo Bailey married Sam Wells, a Church of England priest. They have two children; a son and a daughter.

Selected works

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey Wells, Joanne Caladine 1965 births Living people Church of England priests Women Anglican bishops British Christian theologians British biblical scholars Old Testament scholars Staff of Ridley Hall, Cambridge Duke Divinity School faculty Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University of Minnesota alumni Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham Anglican biblical scholars Alumni of St John's College, Durham Female biblical scholars People educated at Queenswood School People educated at Marlborough College