Sarah Macneil (born 1955) is a retired Anglican bishop in Australia. She was the

Bishop of Grafton The Anglican Diocese of Grafton is one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese is located in north-east New South Wales and covers the area from the Queensland border to Port Macquarie in the south and west to the ...

in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the R ...

. She was consecrated and installed as bishop on 1 March 2014, becoming the first woman in Australia to lead a diocese.

Life and ministry

Sarah Macneil was born and grew up in Canberra. She has been a life-long Anglican. Prior to being ordained as an Anglican priest, Macneil served as a diplomat. She worked in Australia and overseas in appointments with the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Trade. She was the dean of

St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide St Peter's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Adelaide and Metropolitan of the Province of South Australia. The cathedral, a significant Adelaide landmark, is situ ...

, from 2009 to 2011 and served as an archdeacon in the Diocese of Canberra-Goulburn. At the time of her election as bishop, she was serving as the senior associate priest at Holy Covenant Anglican Church located near the Jamison Centre in Cook, Australian Capital Territory. She is married to Ian Chaplin.

Election as bishop

In 2013, Macneil was elected unanimously as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Grafton, located in northern New South Wales. The diocese includes Anglican churches from Port Macquarie northwards to the New South Wales border with Queensland. Her election made history, as Macneil became the first woman in the Anglican Church of Australia to be selected as a diocesan bishop. This meant she had direct responsibility for overseeing the affairs of the churches in her area. Five years earlier,

Kay Goldsworthy Kay Maree Goldsworthy (born 1956) is an Australian bishop of the Anglican Church of Australia. She is the current archbishop of Perth in the Province of Western Australia.ABC Online Upon her installation as archbishop, on 10 February 2018, she ...

had been elected as the first woman bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia; she served as the assistant bishop of Perth in her first assignment and did not become a diocesan bishop until 2017, when she was elected Bishop of Gippsland. Macneil was consecrated at Christ Church Cathedral in Grafton on 2 March 2014. Hundreds of people attended the service. Macneil took on the role of bishop at a tumultuous time in the life of the diocese. The prior bishop,

Keith Slater Keith Nichol Slater (born 12 March 1935) is a former Western Australian cricketer and West Australian Football League (WAFL) player. Cricket career In cricket, Slater was an all-rounder who played in only one Test match, against England in ...

, had resigned in 2013 in the wake of a scandal around his handling of sex-abuse cases. His resignation came just prior to the commencement of an investigation by a royal commission into sexual abuse at the North Coast Children's home, which was run by the diocese and under Slater's jurisdiction. On 3 November 2017, Macneil announced her resignation as Bishop of Grafton, effective from 3 March 2018, citing medical advice.''North Coast Anglican''
December 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macneil, Sarah 1955 births Living people Anglican bishops of Grafton Deans of Adelaide 21st-century Anglican bishops in Australia Women Anglican bishops University of Divinity alumni

Life and ministry

Election as bishop

See also

References