Ruth Gledhill (born 1959) is an English
journalist and is a former religion affairs correspondent for ''
The Times'', a post she left in 2014. Gledhill was the last full-time newspaper journalist dedicated to religious affairs in the UK. She is currently assistant editor, home and digital, of ''
The Tablet''.
Gledhill grew up in
Gratwich
Gratwich is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Kingstone, in the East Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is miles southwest of Uttoxeter in the valley of the River Blythe. In 1931 the parish ...
, Staffordshire, a small village near
Uttoxeter, as the daughter of the local vicar. She is married to Alan Franks, a writer for ''
The Times'' and ''
The Guardian'', a playwright and musician. The couple have one son, Arthur.
Gledhill began her career in Uttoxeter with the ''
Uttoxeter Advertiser
Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from Derby ...
'' and then moved to the ''
Birmingham Post
The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...
'' and ''
Birmingham Evening Mail'' before joining the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' in 1984 and ''
The Times'' in 1987; she became ''The Times'' religion correspondent in 1989.
She co-authored (with Tim Webb) a guide to Birmingham entitled ''Birmingham is not a Boring City''. She also edited ''The Times Book of Prayers'' and ''The Times Book of Best Sermons'', published for six years in connection with The Times Preacher of the Year Award.
Gledhill has argued in favour of the "benefits of schism" within the
Anglican Communion, taking a critical stance against
Peter Akinola
Peter Jasper Akinola (born 27 January 1944, in Abeokuta) is the former Anglican Primate of the Church of Nigeria. He is also the former bishop of Abuja and Archbishop of Province III, which covered the northern and central parts of the cou ...
and other church leaders with conservative views on homosexuality.
Gledhill has been shortlisted three times in the
British Press Awards and won the
Andrew Cross Award for Religious Writer of the Year in 2004
References
External links
Gledhill articles on the Journalisted website
1959 births
Living people
British journalists
People from Uttoxeter
British women journalists
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