Who will be the first female bishop in the Church of England?
Andrew Brown has some thoughts. Among the leading candidates:
The Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, 52, chaplain to the House of Commons and a chaplain to the Queen
Born and brought up in Montego Bay, Jamaica, she is the first black female chaplain to the Commons, and is known for her straight talking. She is also vicar to two inner-city parishes in east London.
The Very Rev Dr June Osborne, 61, dean of Salisbury cathedral
Osborne was one of the first 1,500 women to be ordained and the first to serve at one of England’s medieval cathedrals. She became a deacon at St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, and has also served at St Aldate’s Church, Oxford, and in the Old Ford parishes in London. Her speech at the church general synod the year before it voted on female priests was credited by some for swinging the vote in favour. In 2006 she was appointed as a deputy lieutenant for Wiltshire.
The Rev Lucy Winkett, 46, rector of St James’s Piccadilly, central London
Before moving to St James’s in 2010, Winkett was canon precentor at St Paul’s Cathedral, where she survived open opposition when some worshippers refused to receive holy communion from her hand. Trained at the Royal College of Music, she was a professional classical singer. A regular contributor to BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, Winkett is also an author who has contributed to several books including Why I Am Still an Anglican. She advises Theos, a thinktank set up in 2006.