Patricia Storey (née Shaw; born 30 March 1960) is an Irish Anglican bishop. Since 2013, she has been the

Bishop of Meath and Kildare The United Dioceses of Meath and Kildare is a diocese in the Church of Ireland located in the Republic of Ireland. The diocese is in the ecclesiastical province of Dublin. Alone of English and Irish bishops who are not also archbishops, the Bis ...

in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second l ...

. She was the first woman to become a bishop in the Church of Ireland and the first woman to be an Anglican bishop in Ireland and Great Britain.

Early life and education

Storey was born 30 March 1960. She was educated at the

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

, 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 school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...

in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She studied French and English at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1983; as per tradition, her BA was later promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

(MA Dubl) degree. In 1994, she began to train for ordination at the Church of Ireland Theological College. She graduated in 1997 with a

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

(BTh) degree.

Ordained ministry

Storey was ordained in the

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 churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1997 and priest in 1998. From 1997 to 2000, she served her

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

in the Parish of Kilconriola and Ballyclug, ( Ballymena), County Antrim. From 2000 to 2004, she was an assistant curate at St Aidan's Church,

Glenavy Glenavy () is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, 17 kilometres north west of Lisburn on the banks of the Glenavy River. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 5,697 people. In early documents it was known as Lena ...

, County Antrim. In 2004, she was appointed

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of St Augustine's Church,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. Th ...

Episcopal ministry

On 19 September 2013, Storey was chosen by the House of Bishops to succeed Richard Clarke as

. She was consecrated to the episcopate at

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...

, on 30 November 2013. She is the first woman to be elected as a bishop in the Church of Ireland and the first woman to be an Anglican bishop in Ireland and Great Britain. As Bishop of Meath and Kildare, she is the only Anglican bishop who is not also an archbishop or

primate Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...

to be styled ''

The Most Reverend The Most Reverend is a style applied to certain religious figures, primarily within the historic denominations of Christianity, but occasionally in some more modern traditions also. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Angli ...

'' (rather than ''

The Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style (manner of address), style applied to certain religion, religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholicism in the United Kingdom, ...

''), the style usually restricted to archbishops or primates.

Views

Storey has described her

churchmanship Churchmanship (or churchpersonship; or tradition in most official contexts) is a way of talking about and labelling different tendencies, parties, or schools of thought within the Church of England and the sister churches of the Anglican Commun ...

as "

open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (Y ...

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

". She was previously a board member of the

Evangelical Alliance The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is a national evangelical alliance, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. Founded in 1846, the activities of the Evangelical Alliance aim to promote evangelical Christian beliefs in government, media and societ ...

. She voted 'no' on same-gender marriage in Ireland but, at the same time, affirmed civil unions and partnerships for same-gender couples thus taking a middle of the road approach. In her words, "I believe that civil partnerships give gay people clear civil rights and recognition as people committed to one another, and I fully endorse this. ... However, I do not think this requires the redefinition of marriage to uphold it, and I do not believe marriage should be redefined.".

Personal life

Storey is married to an Anglican priest, Earl Storey. Together they have two adult children; Luke and Carolyn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storey, Patricia Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Bishops of Meath and Kildare Living people Clergy from Belfast Women Anglican bishops 1960 births Evangelical Anglican bishops 21st-century Anglican bishops in Ireland People educated at Methodist College Belfast Alumni of the Church of Ireland Theological Institute