Sally Hitchiner (born 1980) is an English

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 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 ...

Early life and education

Sally Ann Hitchiner was born on 14 February 1980. From 1998 to 2001, she studied

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

and

social policy Social policy is a plan or action of government or institutional agencies which aim to improve or reform society. Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize soci ...

at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

where she achieved a first class honours. She then studied

theology 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 trained for ordination at

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 Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

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, ...

Ordained ministry

In 2008 Hitchiner became the Chaplain's Assistant at

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th c ...

and at the

Oxford Pastorate The Oxford Pastorate has provided chaplains to work alongside students in the University of Oxford, England, since it was founded in 1893 by evangelical Anglicans. Its objective is to encourage "true and lively faith" among Oxford's student popul ...

chaplaincy where she reinvented the Oxford University Socratic Society, debating philosophy and theology with those of different beliefs. Hitchiner 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 John's Church, Ealing from 2009 to 2012, during which time she led the church's Sunday evening Cafe Church congregation with a special focus on those who did not feel comfortable in mainstream church settings. She was involved in coordinating the local community response to the

London riots in 2011 The 2011 England riots, more widely known as the London riots, were a series of riots between 6 and 11 August 2011. Thousands of people rioted in cities and towns across England, which saw looting, arson, as well as mass deployment of police and ...

, and a year later led the call towards forgiveness and

reconciliation Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to: Accounting * Reconciliation (accounting) Arts, entertainment, and media Sculpture * ''Reconciliation'' (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture), a sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Coventry Cathedra ...

. She developed an unlikely friendship with Richard Dawkins following jointly sitting with him as the subject for the semi-final of the Sky Arts National Portrait of the Year competition which was aired in December 2014 Hitchiner contributed a chapter on mission to a book celebrating the voices of ordained women who had become national experts Up until April 2019 she was Coordinating Anglican Chaplain and Interfaith Adviser at

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...

. Since then, she has been Associate Vicar for Ministry at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.

Personal life and views on LGBT rights

On 15 July 2014, Hitchiner was accidentally

outed Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...

during a live appearance on television. Hitchiner opposes "gay-to-straight" conversion therapy and 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 ...

's official stance against

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. She is the founder of Diverse Church, a movement for young

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

adults. She stated on BBC Breakfast on 3 September 2016 that she had recently become engaged to be Civilly Partnered, and she was united in a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

with Fiona. Clergy in the Church of England are permitted to enter into same-sex civil partnerships. Hitchiner advocates all sides in the debate working together constructively towards increased inclusion of LGBT people within the church and society. In 2014 Hitchiner founded Diverse Church a national support group for 18–30 year old LGBT+ Christians. This group specialises in supporting those in the most conservative ends of the church and welcomes all 18–30 year old LGBT Christians whatever their views are on ethics or theology. It places a high value on confidentiality and there is no need to come out beyond the group when you join.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchiner, Sally Living people 21st-century English Anglican priests British LGBT rights activists LGBT Anglican clergy 1980 births Alumni of the University of York