Rachel Mann (born 1970) is a British Anglican priest, poet and feminist

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

. She is a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may Gender transitioning, transition; this process commonly includes Feminizing horm ...

who writes, speaks and broadcasts on a wide range of topics including gender, sexuality and religion. She has served as Archdeacon of Bolton and of Salford (in the Diocese of Manchester) since 2023.

Early life and education

Mann was born in 1970. She grew up in Worcestershire, in the village of

Hartlebury Hartlebury is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England which is in Wychavon district centred south of Kidderminster. The civil parish registered a population of 2,549 in the 2001 Census. The railway station is centred 800 metr ...

, and attended Stourport-On-Severn High School. Between 1988 and 1991, she studied philosophy at Lancaster University and completed an M.A. at the same university from 1992 to 1993. She studied for a PhD in philosophy at Lancaster and was a teaching fellow from 1994 to 1996. From 2003 to 2005, she trained for

ordained ministry Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vario ...

at Queen's College, Birmingham, an

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The wo ...

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...

. She holds an M.A. in creative writing from

Manchester Writing School Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and she undertook

postgraduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and s ...

in the Bible and

19th-century literature The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...

Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...

. Her

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144 ...

was titled "The representation of fecundity and barrenness in the poetry of

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabe ...

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including " Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...

, and the Bible: a critical and creative interrogation of a Christian-feminist poetics", and was completed in 2017.

Ordained ministry

Mann was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

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 churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 2005 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 deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 2006. 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 ...

at St Matthew's Church,

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, south of Manchester city centre, south of Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford and n ...

in the Diocese of Manchester. Between 2008 and 2017, she was

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. Such priests are not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, but simply hold a ...

at the

Church of St Nicholas, Burnage The Church of St Nicholas, Kingsway, Burnage, Manchester, is a Modernist church of 1930–2 by N. F. Cachemaille-Day, Lander and Welch.Hartwell et al. 2004, p. 410 It was enlarged in 1964 with a bay on the west side, also by Cachemaille ...

, before being appointed its

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 ...

in 2018. Between 2009 and 2017, she was also Resident Poet at

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...

. In 2017, she was made an

honorary canon A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is 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, i ...

of Manchester Cathedral. Between February 2018 and the end of its extended quinquennium in July 2021, she was 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 ...

, having been elected by the clergy of the Diocese of Manchester. In June 2021, she left St Nicholas Burnage to become full-time

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 Bury and Rossendale. In the elections for the 2021-2026 Quinquennium, Mann was re-elected as a member of the Church of England's General Synod for Manchester. On 12 June 2023, she was announced as the next Archdeacon of of Bolton and of Salford; she was duly collated to those archdeaconries ( in plurality) on 4 July.

Views

Mann belongs to the modern Catholic

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...

of the Church of England, though she was brought up an

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 ...

Charismatic Christian Charismatic Christianity (also known as Spirit-filled Christianity by its supporters) is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and modern-day miracles as an everyday part of a believer's life. Pract ...

. She supports the full inclusion of the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

people in the church. Since 2020, Mann is a patron of the

Open Table Network Open Table Network (OTN) is a Christian charity which supports church communities for LGBT people and their allies. History In June 2008, the first Open Table community was founded at St Bride's Church, Liverpool; by 2019, the network consist ...

, an ecumenical Christian community for

people and their allies.

Author

She is the author of ''Dazzling Darkness: Gender, Sexuality, Illness & God'' (Glasgow: Wild Goose 2012) and ''The Risen Dust: Poems and Stories of Passion & Resurrection'' (Glasgow: Wild Goose 2013), both published by the publishing arm of the

Iona Community The Iona Community, founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, is an ecumenical Christian community of men and women from different walks of life and different traditions within Christianity. It and its publishing house, Wild Goose Publications, are hea ...

. Mann is also a contributor to ''Fear and Friendship: Anglicans Engaging With Islam'' (Continuum 2012) and several books on liturgical theology, including ''Presiding Like a Woman'' (SPCK 2010). Her book about the First World War and Ritual, ''Fierce Imaginings: The Great War, Ritual, Memory & God'' (London: D.L.T. 2017) was shortlisted for the 2019 Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing. In 2018, she was appointed Visiting Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing and English at the

. She is also a visiting scholar at

Sarum College Sarum College is a centre of theological learning in Salisbury, England. The college was established in 1995 and sits within the cathedral close on the north side of Salisbury Cathedral. The Sarum College education programme ranges from sho ...

. In 2019,

Carcanet Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was named the ''Sunday Times'' millennium Small Publisher of the Year. History ''Carcanet'' was originally a li ...

published her debut full poetry collection, ''A Kingdom of Love''. The collection was Highly Commended in the 2020

Forward Prizes for Poetry The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

. In 2020, her debut novel, ‘’The Gospel of Eve’’, was published by D.L.T. Mann is a regular contributor to

The Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

and contributes to BBC Radio 2's

Pause For Thought ''Wake Up to Wogan'' (''WUTW'') was the incarnation of ''The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' that aired each weekday morning from 4 January 1993 to 18 December 2009. It was the most-listened-to radio show in the United Kingdom, and the flagship breakfa ...

and BBC Radio 4's

Thought For The Day ''Thought for the Day'' is a daily scripted slot on the ''Today'' programme on BBC Radio 4 offering "reflections from a faith perspective on issues and people in the news", broadcast at around 7:45 each Monday to Saturday morning. Nowadays lastin ...

The Daily Service ''The Daily Service'' is a short Christian service broadcast every weekday morning between 09:45 and 10:00 on BBC Radio 4's long wave and DAB frequencies. It was also broadcast on Radio 4's FM frequencies until 13 September 1991. In 1926, Britis ...

and Prayer For The Day. She also writes about progressive music, metal and folk for

Prog Magazine ''Prog'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to progressive rock music. The magazine is published 11 times a year by Future. It was launched in February 2009 and is based in London, publishing its 100th issue in August 2019. ''Prog'' c ...

, an offshoot of

Classic Rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...

Magazine, and

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

Selected works

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Rachel 1970 births Living people 21st-century English Anglican priests Transgender women writers Transgender poets English transgender people LGBT Anglican clergy 21st-century English poets English feminist writers 21st-century English theologians English women poets English Anglican theologians Christian feminist theologians Anglican poets 21st-century English women writers English Anglo-Catholics Anglo-Catholic clergy Alumni of the Queen's Foundation Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Alumni of Lancaster University Members of the General Synod of the Church of England Archdeacons of Salford Archdeacons of Bolton