History has been made! The Church of England’s first black female bishop has been consecrated in a ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, who joined the ministry when she was 14, was consecrated as the Bishop of Dover in London. She was born on January 19, 1961, in Montego Bay, St. James, Jamaica, having been raised by her father and aunt when her mother left the island, bound for England after giving birth.
Dr. Hudson-Wilkin, the former chaplain to the speaker of the house, succeeds Right Reverend Trevor Willmott, who retired in May.
Dr. Hudson-Wilkin will be installed at the Canterbury Cathedral on Saturday, November 30.
“I’m excited, I’ve got lots of new people to meet, to get to know, and that fills me with joy,” she told the BBC.
Rev. Hudson-Wilkin, who is also a chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II, led prayers at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018.
“I simply had this overwhelming sense that this was what I was called to do,” she said in a 2012 interview in the Daily Telegraph.
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: “When in October Rose stepped down as Chaplain to the Speaker, the tributes from all sides showed her pastoral, prophetic and faith-sharing gifts. Even in times of division she was a point of unity and hope, to those of any or no faith.”
“Through much struggle and suffering in her life she has become one of the most exceptional of Christian leaders showing, in word and deed, confidence in Jesus Christ as life, liberty and love. We welcome her, warmly confident that God who has led her this far will walk with her and speak through her.”
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