Anna Eltringham (born 1974) is an

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. Since 2023 she has served as

Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight o ...

in the Diocese of Leeds. From 2014 to 2023, she served as

Team leader A team leader is a person who provides guidance, instruction, direction and leadership to a group of individuals (the team) for the purpose of achieving a key result or group of aligned results. Team leaders serves as the steering wheel for a group ...

of the

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge District, Tandridge district of Surrey, England. It is at the foot of the North Downs, south-east of Croydon, west of Sevenoaks, and north of East Grinstead. Oxted is a commuter town and Ox ...

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

Early life

Eltringham was born in 1974, and she grew up in the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

. She studied at business and anthropology at

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 ...

, where she was a member of

St John's College, Durham St John's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. The college was established in 1909 as a Church of England theological college and became a full constituent college of th ...

, and 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 1996. She worked in

strategic marketing Marketing strategy refers to efforts undertaken by an Organizational structure, organization to increase its sales and achieve competitive advantage. In other words, it is the method of advertising a company's products to the public through an est ...

until her call to ordained ministry.

Ordained ministry

She studied at the South East Institute for Theological Education and was

ordained 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 ...

deacon in 2008 and priest in 2009. After a

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 Holy Innocents Church, South Norwood, she was Team Vicar of

from 2014 to 2019; and

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. Anc ...

from 2019 to 2023. She was also Dean of Women's Ministry in the

Anglican Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark ( ) is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient ...

from 2017 until her appointment as bishop. She was also an

Honorary Chaplain to the Queen An Honorary Chaplain to the King is a member of the clergy within the United Kingdom who, through long and distinguished service, is appointed to minister to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch of the United Kingdom. When the reigning mona ...

(QHC) from 2020 to 2022, and then an

Honorary Chaplain to the King An Honorary Chaplain to the King is a member of the clergy within the United Kingdom who, through long and distinguished service, is appointed to minister to the monarch of the United Kingdom. When the reigning monarch is female, Honorary Chaplain ...

(KHC) from 2022 to 2023. Eltringham 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 ...

as a bishop by

Stephen Cottrell Stephen Geoffrey Cottrell (; born 31 August 1958) is a Church of England bishop. Since 9 July 2020, he has been the Archbishop of York and Primate of England; the second-most senior bishop of the church and the most senior in northern England ...

, Archbishop of York, during a service at York Minster on 22 June 2023.

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".

References

1974 births Living people Bishops of Ripon Honorary chaplains to the King Alumni of St John's College, Durham {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub