Julie Anne Conalty (born 1963) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 19 July 2021, she has been the Bishop of Birkenhead, one of two

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 ...

s of 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, ...

Diocese of Chester The Diocese of Chester is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York covering the pre-1974 county of Cheshire and therefore including the Wirral and parts of Stockport, Trafford and Tameside. History Ancient diocese Before the si ...

. She previously served as Archdeacon of Tonbridge in the

Diocese of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal si ...

since 2017. Conalty trained for the ministry at the South East Institute for Theological Education; she 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 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 1999, and

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 2000. She was at

East Wickham East Wickham is a district in south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It is situated north of Welling, east of Shooter's Hill, south of Plumstead, south-west of Abbey Wood and west of West Heath, and east-southeast of ...

from 1999 to 2004; and

Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wales ...

to 2010. 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 ...

Plumstead Common Plumstead Common is a common and urban park in Plumstead in the Royal Borough of Greenwich ( SE18), south-east London. It is part of the South East London Green Chain. Location and geology Plumstead Common is bound to the north by Old Mill Roa ...

she was

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 ...

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

from 2012 until her appointment as

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Early life and education

Conalty was born in 1963. She was educated at

Ormskirk Grammar School Ormskirk Grammar School was a school in Ormskirk, West Lancashire, England. History It was founded circa 1610 and moved from the original school house at Barkhouse Hill to Ruff Lane in 1850. The architect Sydney Smirke designed the original sch ...

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England. It is located north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, Merseyside, St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Ormski ...

, Lancashire: it was a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

which became a

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

while she was there. She attended Cottage Lane Mission church and was a member of the youth group, before taking a Biblical Studies degree at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

. Although she felt called to ordained ministry as a teenager, women could not become priests in the Church of England at that time. After leaving university, Conalty first worked with the homeless as a

night shelter Homeless shelters are a type of service and total institution that provides temporary residence for homeless individuals and families. Shelters exist to provide residents with safety and protection from exposure to the weather while simultaneou ...

manager between 1985 and 1986. She then moved into offender management, first as a

community service officer A community service officer (CSO) provides support in crime prevention, investigation, and response where full police powers are unnecessary and assists police officers in upholding law and order. City of Fremont, California, Job Descriptions, Commu ...

(1986 to 1988), and then as a

probation officer A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probat ...

(1990 to 2002). In between, she trained as a

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

. In the 1990s, she finally trained for ordination on a part-time basis with the South East Institute of Theological Education.

Ordained ministry

Conalty was

in the

as a

in 1999 and as a

in 2000. She began her ecclesiastical career as a

non-stipendiary minister In the Church of England, self-supporting ministers (SSMs), previously called non-stipendiary ministers (NSMs) or non-stipendiary priests, are ministers who do not receive a stipend. They usually have alternative employment. There were around 2,000 ...

(ie, part-time and unpaid) in the

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 ...

, while continuing to work in probation and youth services. She first served at St Michael the Archangel,

from 1999 to 2004, and then at St Luke with Holy Trinity,

from 2004 to 2010. In 2010, Conalty left her secular career and moved into full-time ministry, becoming associate priest of the

United Benefice. In 2012, she moved to the

where she had been appointed

of Christ Church,

. She was additionally Bishop's Advisor for the Ministry of Ordained Women (2013 to 2017) and

Area Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Erith (2014 to 2017). In 2016, she was made an

Honorary Canon Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

. On 24 September 2017, she was

collated Collation is the assembly of written information into a standard order. Many systems of collation are based on numerical order or alphabetical order, or extensions and combinations thereof. Collation is a fundamental element of most office fil ...

as Archdeacon of Tonbridge. She was also the Bishop of Rochester's Lead for Safeguarding. Conalty has been a member of the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

since November 2013.

Episcopal ministry

On 27 May 2021, it was announced that Conalty would be the next Bishop of Birkenhead, a

in the

. She legally took up the post on 19 July 2021, the day of her consecration 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 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 ...

, 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 ...

; she was consecrated alongside the other suffragan of the diocese, Sam Corley, Bishop of Stockport. Since April 2022, she has also been deputy lead bishop for

safeguarding Safeguarding is a term used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia to denote measures to protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals, which allow people—especially children, young people and vulnerable adults—to li ...

with a focus on survivor engagement.

Views

In 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". Conalty favours the disestablishment of the Church of England.

Personal life

Conalty is married to Simon Malcolm, and they have two sons. The Conalty family support South London club

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conalty, Julie Ann 1963 births Living people Archdeacons of Tonbridge 21st-century English Anglican priests 21st-century Anglican bishops Women Anglican clergy Women Anglican bishops Bishops of Birkenhead Members of the General Synod of the Church of England Alumni of the University of Sheffield People educated at Ormskirk Grammar School