Jāna Jēruma-Grīnberga (born London, 1953) is the

priest-in-charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent; they will normally work on a short-term contract and have less freedom to act within the ...

of St Saviour’s Anglican Church in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia and was the first woman to become a bishop in Britain. Jēruma-Grīnberga is the daughter of the Latvian composer Alberts Jērums and was born in England. She studied biochemistry at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

and trained to become a nurse before feeling called to the priesthood, studying at North Thames Ministerial Training Course at

Oak Hill Theological College Oak Hill College is a conservative evangelical theological college located on Chase Side in Southgate, London, England. Its aim is to prepare men and women from the Church of England and Independent churches for ministry. Overview The Colleg ...

and being ordained in 1997. She was a pastor in the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad in Great Britain. She served as the bishop of the

Lutheran Church in Great Britain The Lutheran Church in Great Britain (LCiGB) is a small Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. The LCiGB is a member church of the Lutheran World Federation and of The Lutheran Council of Great Britain, the umbrella organisation for ...

, taking office in January 2009.Britain's first woman bishop to take office this weekend
January 14, 2009 by Martin Beckford The Telegraph As such, she was the first woman to become a bishop in Britain.Chris Wat
Scot’s bid to be bishop fails
19 May 2011 The Herald (Scotland) Christina Rees, chair of

Women and the Church Women and the Church (WATCH) is a group of women and men who have been campaigning for gender equality (and especially for the ordination of women as bishops) in the Church of England. The group was initially created during the 1990s as London WAT ...

, welcomed her appointment as the campaign for women to be ordained bishops in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

was not yet successful. Ishmael Noko, general secretary of the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; ) is a global Communion (religion), communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of L ...

, also welcomed the news. Jēruma-Grīnberga is a trustee of the Council of Lutheran Churches. She was one of the six presidents of

Churches Together in England Churches Together in England (CTE) is an ecumenical organisation and the national instrument for the Christian Churches in England. It helps its member churches work better together. Churches Together in England supports a network of Intermediat ...

between 2010 and 2014, the other five presidents being the Archbishop of Canterbury

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is an Anglican bishop who served as the 105th archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 2013 to 2025. After an 11-year career in the oil industry, Welby trained for ordination at St John ...

, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster

Vincent Nichols Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Westminster since 2009. He was the Archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009 and is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference ...

, Archbishop Gregorios Theocharous of

Thyateira and Great Britain The Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain is an archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The incumbent archeparch is Archbishop Nikitas (Loulias). Its jurisdiction covers those Orthodo ...

, the Revd Michael Heaney (Free Churches' Moderator), and Bishop Eric Brown (Pentecostal). From 2009 to 2013, she was co-moderator of the Anglican Lutheran Society, together with Anglican bishop

Rupert Hoare Rupert William Noel Hoare (born 3 March 1940) is a former dean of Liverpool and Anglican area Bishop of Dudley. Biography Hoare was born on 3 March 1940 in Sussex, England. He attended the Dragon School in Oxford before attending Rugby School. Up ...

. She was installed as the

of St Saviour’s Anglican Church in

, Latvia, in October 2014, succeeding Juris Cālītis.

References

External links

Lutheran Church in Great BritainCouncil of Lutheran Churches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeruma-Grinberga, Jana 21st-century Lutheran bishops Living people Alumni of University College London 1953 births Women Lutheran bishops Latvian Lutheran bishops British people of Latvian descent

See also

References

External links