Elizabeth Jane Holden Lane (born 8 December 1966) is a British

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

and

Lord Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Up to 26 of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not including retired bish ...

. Since February 2019, she has served as Bishop of Derby 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, ...

, the diocesan bishop of the

Diocese of Derby The Diocese of Derby is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, roughly covering the same area as the County of Derbyshire. Its diocesan bishop is the Bishop of Derby whose seat (cathedra) is at Derby Cathedral. The dioces ...

. From January 2015 to 2019, she was the Bishop of Stockport, a

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led b ...

in the Diocese of Chester. She was the first woman to be appointed as a bishop by the Church of England, after its

general synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

voted in July 2014 to allow women to become bishops. Her consecration took place on 26 January 2015 at

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

Early life

Lane was born Elizabeth Jane Holden on 8 December 1966 in Wycombe Rural District,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, England. She was raised in

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. She was educated at

Manchester High School for Girls Manchester High School for Girls is an English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls and a member of the Girls School Association. It is situated in Fallowfield, Manchester. The head mistress is Helen Jeys who took ...

, a private girls' school. In 1986, she matriculated into St Peter's College, Oxford, where she studied theology. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) degree in 1989; this was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree under the statutes and customs of the university. From 1991 to 1993, she studied for

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

at Cranmer Hall,

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

Ordained ministry

Lane was ordained in the

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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1993 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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1994, the first year in which women were ordained as priest in the Church of England. She served her

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () 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 who are ass ...

at St James's Church,

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the River Ribble, Ribble Valley, east of Preston ...

, from 1993 to 1996. She served in the Diocese of Chester from 2000 to 2014 and was the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of the combined benefice of St Peter's Hale and St Elizabeth's Ashley from 2007. She was also the Dean of Women in Ministry in the diocese from 2010. In 2013, Lane was elected one of eight participant observers of the

House of Bishops The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

as the observer representing the

North West of England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

. The observers were senior female priests who would attend and participate in meetings of the

until six women had full membership of the house. She attended her first meeting in December 2013. Lane ceased to be an observer when she was elected, by and from among the

s of the

Province of York The Province of York, or less formally the Northern Province, is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England and consists of 14 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to ...

, to the House of Bishops in 2015. As an elected suffragan and later a diocesan bishop, she has been a full member of the house since 2015.

Episcopate

On 17 December 2014, it was announced that Lane was to become the Bishop of Stockport, a

in the Diocese of Chester. The

British prime minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, called her appointment "historic" and "an important step forward for the Church towards greater equality in its senior positions". She was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 26 January 2015 by

John Sentamu John Tucker Mugabi Sentamu, Baron Sentamu, (; ; born 10 June 1949) is a retired Anglican bishop and life peer. He was Archbishop of York and Primate of England from 2005 to 2020. In retirement he was subject to investigation over his handl ...

, the then

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

. When the archbishop asked the congregation if Lane should be consecrated as a bishop the service was briefly interrupted by an Anglo-Catholic priest, Paul Williamson, who exclaimed "It's not in the Bible" and called Lane's being a woman an "absolute impediment". There was no opposition when Sentamu, having carefully explained the legality of the act, asked a second time. One of the first duties that Lane undertook as a bishop was her involvement in the consecration service for Philip North as the Bishop of Burnley on 2 February 2015. North is a traditionalist

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

who does not accept the ordination of women. Therefore, Lane and all but three other bishops did not take part in the

laying on of hands The laying on of hands is a religious practice. In Judaism, ''semikhah'' (, "leaning f the hands) accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christianity, Christian churches, chirotony. is used as both a symbolic and formal met ...

. (This situation was widely commented upon as exemplifying a " theology of taint".) Instead, they gathered in prayer around North, with only the three bishops "who share his theological conviction regarding the ordination of women" laying their hands on him. She was installed at

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...

on 8 March 2015,

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

, signalling the official start of her ministry as Bishop of Stockport. On 18 December 2018, it was announced that Lane was to become the eighth Bishop of Derby, succeeding Alastair Redfern; she grew up in the diocese, in

. The

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

of her

canonical election A canonical election, in the canon law of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, is the designation of a suitable candidate to a vacant ecclesiastical office by a vote of a collegial body.Fernando della Rocca, "Manual of Canon Law", pg. 170 (§7 ...

took place on 11 February 2019, at which point she legally became the Bishop of Derby. The

was then the first Church of England diocese to have a woman diocesan bishop and a woman suffragan bishop ( Jan McFarlane was then the Bishop of Repton). She was installed at

Derby Cathedral The Cathedral Church of All Saints, Derby, better known as Derby Cathedral, is a cathedral church in the city of Derby, England. In 1927, it was promoted from parish church status to that of a cathedral, creating a seat for the Bishop of ...

on 25 May 2019. She was introduced as a

at the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

by the Archbishop of Canterbury (Justin Welby) and the former Archbishop of York (John Sentamu) on 2 July 2019.

Views

In November 2023, she was one of 44 Church of England bishops who signed an open letter supporting the use of the ''Prayers of Love and Faith'' (i.e. blessings for same-sex couples) and called for "Guidance being issued without delay that includes the removal of all restrictions on clergy entering same-sex civil marriages, and on bishops ordaining and licensing such clergy".

Personal life

Lane married her husband, George Lane, in 1990. They had met while both students at St Peter's College, Oxford, in the late 1980s. He is an Anglican priest and currently the co-ordinating

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

Manchester Airport Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2024, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passengers (the busiest outside of London) ...

. They were among the first married couples to be ordained at the same time in the Church of England. They have two children, Connie and Benedict.

Honours

Lane was made an honorary fellow of St Peter's College, Oxford (her ''

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

'') in June 2015. In July 2015, she was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

(DD) degree by the

University of Wales Trinity Saint David The University of Wales Trinity Saint David () is a public university with three main campuses in South West Wales, in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea, a fourth campus in London, and learning centres in Cardiff, and Birmingham. The university ...

. In July 2017, she was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

(LLD) by the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

References

External links

Episcopal appointment announcement on the Church of England website.

Profile on St Peter's Hale website.

Article on the ''Cheshire Life'' website.

Libby Lane: ‘Whatever the Church’s failings, I really think this is where God has put me’
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Libby 1966 births Living people Bishops of Stockport Women Anglican bishops 21st-century Church of England bishops People educated at Manchester High School for Girls Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford People from Wycombe District People from Glossop Honorary Fellows of St Peter's College, Oxford Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham Bishops of Derby Women Lords Spiritual Lords Spiritual