58 year-old Rose Hudson-Wilkin has been consecrated as the first black female bishop of the Church of England. In a ceremony at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral on Tuesday (Nov 19.)
Dr Hudson-Wilkin recently left her post as chaplain to the speaker of the British parliament’s elected main house, the Commons, after nine years.
Dr Hudson-Wilkin was 14 when she joined the ministry and said she never thought becoming a bishop would be possible.
Dr Hudson-Wilkin, who is also a chaplain to the Queen, led prayers at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018. She said:
“Beginning this new ministry, there is a sense of awe in it all. But also something refreshing about being open to the new things that God has in store – not just for me as a person taking on this new leadership role, but for our diocese as a whole.”
Dr Hudson-Wilkin and her husband, a prison chaplain, have three adult children, according to an official biography.
Educated in Montego Bay, Jamaica, she attended Birmingham University in England and trained with the Church Army.
Dr Hudson-Wilkin will be installed at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 November.
