Miranda Threlfall-Holmes (born 1973)
is an
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 ...
priest who has been the
Archdeacon of Liverpool since 2023.
Education and training
Threlfall-Holmes studied history at
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 ...
,
and receiving her
Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1995: as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a
Master of Arts (MA Cantab) in 1997.
She worked in
brand management,
before moving to
Durham to study for her doctorate at
University College, Durham
, motto_English = Not for ourselves alone
, scarf =
, established =
, principal = Wendy Powers
, vice_principal = Ellen Crabtree
, undergraduates = 698
, postgraduates = 153
, coordinates =
, location_map = Durham
, map_size ...
. She received her
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2000, and then began training for the Anglican priesthood 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 ...
the same year. She received her second BA from
St John's College, Durham in 2002.
Ministry
Threlfall-Holmes was made
deacon at
Petertide 2003 (on 29 June) and ordained priest the following Petertide (4 July 2004), both times by
Martin Wharton,
Bishop of Newcastle, at
Newcastle Cathedral. She began her ordained ministry with a
curacy at
Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne
Heaton is a district and suburb in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, east of the city centre. It is bordered by the neighbouring areas of Walkergate to the east, Jesmond to the north west, Byker to the south, and Sandyford to the west. ...
; then returned to Durham in 2006, becoming
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
and Solway
Fellow at University College until 2012;
while in that post she also served as interim
Principal of
Ustinov College
Ustinov College is the largest college of Durham University, located in Durham, North East England. Founded as the Graduate Society in 1965, it became a college in 2003 and was named after then-chancellor, Sir Peter Ustinov. Formerly at the Howl ...
, 2011–2012.
Her next post was in parish ministry in the same diocese: as
Vicar of
Belmont
Belmont may refer to:
People
* Belmont (surname)
Places
* Belmont Abbey (disambiguation)
* Belmont Historic District (disambiguation)
* Belmont Hotel (disambiguation)
* Belmont Park (disambiguation)
* Belmont Plantation (disambiguation)
* Belmon ...
and
Pittington; later in her tenure there, she also served as
area dean of the Durham (city) deanery, 2016–2017.
Threlfall-Holmes has been
Team Rector
A rector is, in an ecclesiastical sense, a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations. In contrast, a vicar is also a cleric but functions as an assistant and representative of an administrative leader.
A ...
of the
St Luke-in-the-City Team in Liverpool city centre since 2017;
she was instituted to the role by
Paul Bayes
Paul Bayes (born 1953) is an English Anglican retired bishop. He served as Bishop of Liverpool, 2014–2022, and as Bishop of Hertford in the Church of England Diocese of St Albans, 2010–2014.
Early life
Bayes was born in Bradford, Wes ...
,
Bishop of Liverpool, in a service at
St Dunstan's on 10 August 2017. Remaining Team Rector, she also became acting Archdeacon of Liverpool part-time, effective 1 February 2023. On 11 June, it was announced she was to become the next archdeacon (leaving St Luke-in-the-City);
her substantive appointment was effective upon her collation on 9 September 2023.
Campaigning and national roles
She has served intermittently as a
Proctor in Convocation (i.e. a clergy member of the
General Synod of the Church of England) since 2006. She was first elected to the "Universities (Durham & Newcastle)" constituency of the
Convocation of York
The Convocations of Canterbury and York are the synodical assemblies of the bishops and clergy of each of the two provinces which comprise the Church of England. Their origins go back to the ecclesiastical reorganisation carried out under Arc ...
at a by-election during the 2005–2010 quinquennium; and re-elected to the same constituency in 2010, remaining until her departure from chaplaincy in 2012. She was then elected in 2015 as a Proctor for Durham diocese, remaining until her move to Liverpool in 2017; she was again elected in 2021, this time a Proctor for Liverpool diocese.
, Threlfall-Holmes has been a member of
Women and the Church since training for the priesthood, regularly attends
Greenbelt Festival and is a council member of
Modern Church
Modern Church is a charitable society promoting liberal Christian theology. It defends liberal positions on a wide range of issues including gender, sexuality, interfaith relations, religion and science, and biblical scholarship. In church affa ...
. She was a national committee member of WATCH, especially during the campaign for women to be ordained bishops in the Church of England.
In March 2024, Threlfall-Holmes posted on X (formerly Twitter) calling for “anti whiteness” in society, a post which provoked major controversy, with her comments being criticized as "racist" and "divisive". She later told ''The Telegraph'': “I was contributing to a debate about world views, in which ‘whiteness’ does not refer to skin colour per se, but to a way of viewing the world where being white is seen as ‘normal’ and everything else is considered different or lesser.”
Personal life
She is married to Phil and they have three children.
Selected works
* PhD thesis — ''Monks and Markets: Durham Cathedral Priory 1460–1520'' (2005,
Oxford University Press; )
* ''Being a Chaplain'', edited with Mark Newitt (2011,
SPCK
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world.
The SPCK is th ...
; )
* ''The Essential History of Christianity'' (2012, SPCK; )
* three poems in ''Learning to Love'', edited by Chris Goan (2014, Proost; )
* ''The Teenage Prayer Experiment Notebook'', with her son Noah Threlfall-Holmes (2015, SPCK; )
** ''The Little Book of Prayer Experiments'' (2016, SPCK; )
** ''The Prayer Experiment Notebook'', with Mina Munns (2018, SPCK; )
* ''How To Eat Bread: 21 Nourishing Ways to Read the Bible'' (2021,
John Murray Press; )
References
1973 births
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham
Alumni of University College, Durham
Archdeacons of Liverpool
21st-century Anglican theologians
21st-century English Anglican priests
21st-century English women
British Anglican theologians
Christian feminist theologians
Historians of Christianity
Living people
Women Christian theologians
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