Bishop Rachel: 10 years of ministry

We’re celebrating 10 years since Bishop Rachel was consecrated as the Bishop of Gloucester and the first female diocesan bishop in the Church of England.

On 22 July 2015, she was consecrated by Justin Welby, then Archbishop of Canterbury, during a ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral, being the first woman to be consecrated as diocesan bishop in the Church of England.

On the day that this historic announcement was made, Bishop Rachel toured the Diocese of Gloucester, visiting the Royal Agricultural University, All Saints’ Academy, Great Oaks Hospice and Eastwood Park Prison. She ended the day with evening prayers at the Cathedral.

These visits were characteristic of Bishop Rachel’s desire to build relationships across the Diocese of Gloucester. In 2017, Bishop Rachel launched a season of prayer and conversation, involving 6000 people from across the diocese to help discern our LIFE vision.

LIFE vision launch party

Bishop Rachel launched LIFE with a free celebration inviting everyone along to celebrate. The event was filled with music, dancing, games, and creative activities, with plenty of food and fun for families. It finished with Bishop Rachel sharing the Life vision, focusing on Leadership, Imagination, Faith, and Engagement.

First female bishop to enter House of Lords

In 2015, Bishop Rachel made history as the first woman to be introduced in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. In her maiden speech, she spoke about gender equality and the importance of wider inclusion, both in the Church and society.

In 2020, she became the Anglican Bishop for HM Prisons in England and Wales. She regularly visits prisons, working closely with chaplaincy teams, and she has looked into new approaches to rehabilitation – she went on a fact-finding trip to the Netherlands in 2024 to explore their rehabilitation-focused model.

She has been a leading advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, and has particularly focused on the experiences of female offenders, conveying that reform should focus on restoring lives.

She has hosted events in the House of Lords, bringing together policymakers, charities and justice experts to talk about solutions. She has expressed the harmful impact of short prison terms, and has advocated for investment in community based rehabilitation, highlighting the success of trauma-informed Women’s Centres as alternatives to short prison sentences.

In 2016, Bishop Rachel launched #Liedentity to challenge body-image anxiety among young people, and to call out the damaging messages spread through social media around appearance.

In 2023, she supported reforms to the Online Safety Bill, calling for age-verification laws and algorithmic filters to help protect children from harmful online content.

Garden parties

Bishop Rachel has hosted beautiful garden parties at her home in Bishopscourt.

Advocacy for justice and human dignity in Gaza and the occupied territories

Bishop Rachel has spoken out about the conflict in Gaza, condemning Hamas’s terrorist attacks and calling for the unconditional release of all hostages.

She has drawn attention to the humanitarian crisis, highlighting civilians who are left starving, and the widespread destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure.

She visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories in June 2024 and May 2025 where she saw firsthand the daily realities of life under occupation, including restriction of movement, settler violence, and land dispossession.

Alongside other Church of England bishops, she has urged the UK government to hold Israel accountable following the UN International Court of Justice advisory opinion, and she asked them to consider sanctions and suspension of trade agreements in response to settler violence and occupation policies.

Bishop Rachel has advocated for human dignity, justice and compassion, irrespective of national, ethnic, or religious identity. She became Patron of Embrace the Middle East in February; they work to change lives and restore dignity in some of the most excluded and marginalised communities across the Middle East.

Bishop Rachel and the Revd Vicky Falvey joined Nicky Price on BBC Radio Gloucestershire to talk about ministry in the Church of England, reflecting on Bishop Rachel’s 10 years in ministry in our Diocese and Vicky’s recent ordination as a curate. Listen here from an hour into the show.