The Church of England is consecrating its first female bishop during a ceremony at York Minster.
The Reverend Libby Lane, 48, is being ordained as the new Bishop of Stockport, in what she says will be a “profound and remarkable moment”.
The Church formally adopted legislation last November to allow women bishops.
The move, which ends a centuries-old tradition of exclusively male bishops, has continued to prompt divisions between some Anglicans.
Mrs Lane has been vicar of St Peter’s Hale and St Elizabeth’s Ashley, in Greater Manchester, since April 2007.
Her appointment was announced last month and Monday will see the consecration, or the process of being made holy, take place.
The two-hour service – expected to be attended by more than 1,000 people – will be led by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, during which he and other bishops will lay their hands on Mrs Lane and pray.
Dr Sentamu tweeted that he was “thrilled” to be taking part.
Analysis
By John McManus, Social Affairs reporter, BBC News
Straddling metropolitan Manchester and leafy Cheshire, Stockport has often been in the shadow of its two neighbours, but now it has its own claim to fame with England’s first female Bishop, perhaps the first of many.
Don’t expect a sudden rush of new women bishops, though. The Church is a slow-moving edifice.
It took many years of argument to bring itself to this point, and many who opposed the move are bewildered and unhappy.
They will not be celebrating today so senior clergy who back women bishops are anxious not to rock the boat so much that it starts taking on water.
A small number of clergy and lay people already left to join the Catholic Church in 2011 over this issue.
More departures for Rome are unlikely, but the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are aware that while Anglicanism is a broad church, so to speak – they need to keep paddling hard to keep all its members on board.
‘Very emotional’
In an interview with BBC Radio Manchester, Mrs Lane said the consecration would be a very “emotional” moment.
She said: “It is a remarkable thing that this happens to me, and people have been very supportive of me personally, but actually this is about a moment in the Church’s history.”
It would be “a very profound, remarkable moment for me then and for my future ministry”, she said.
Mrs Lane said more than 100 bishops were travelling to York for the service.
Who is Reverend Libby Lane?
- Vicar of St Peter’s Hale and St Elizabeth’s Ashley, in Greater Manchester, since April 2007
- Ordained as deacon in 1993 and as priest in 1994, serving her curacy at St James’s Church, Blackburn
- Since January 2010, she has been Dean of Women in Ministry for the Diocese of Chester
- Her husband, George, is also a priest
- They were one of the first married couples in the Church of England to be ordained together
- She is a Manchester United supporter and is learning to play the saxophone, according to her church’s website
Who is the Church of England’s first female bishop?
Her consecration comes more than 20 years after women became priests in the Church of England.
Reverend Georgina Watmore, friend: “The eyes of the world will be on her”
And it comes after the general synod gave the final seal of approval to the legislation on women bishops following its passage through Parliament last year.
After the change was approved, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said that the Church was entering a “completely new phase of our existence”.
But divisions still remain between Anglicans who feel the change is consistent with their faith and traditionalists who disagree.
Opponents of women bishops include some Church of England evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics who believe scripture requires male headship in the Church.
A vicar from Blackburn used her service on Sunday to protest at changes being made to the ordination of the Bishop of Burnley next month who will not have the “laying of hands” performed by Dr Sentamu because the Reverend Philip North opposes women bishops.
Dr Sentamu said the arrangements were made “for prayer, not politics”.
Gloucester, Oxford and Newcastle are among the dioceses where new bishops will also soon be appointed, while interviews for the vacancy as bishop for the Southwell and Nottingham diocese took place at the start of December.
Churches in Scotland and Wales already allow women as bishops, but have not appointed one yet.
Outside the Church of England, there are over 20 women bishops in the wider Anglican church, including the Reverend Pat Storey, who was appointed Bishop of Meath and Kildare in the Church of Ireland in September 2013.
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Source: BBC