Hollinghurst was born on 4 March 1964 to William and Audrey Bailey.[1] She was educated at Range High School, a coeducational secondary school and sixth form in Formby, Merseyside.[2]
As bishop, she has served on the Faith and Order Commission of the Church of England.[15] She is a member of the Birmingham Faith Leaders Group supporting interfaith relations across the city.[16] Since 2020, she has been Bishop Visitor to the Anglican Religious Community of men and women at Mucknell Abbey.[17]
On 10 April 2024, her appointment was announced as Principal of the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham — a diverse, ecumenical theological training and research institution serving the Church of England, Methodist Church, Black Majority/ Black Pentecostal churches, and many independent students. She took up the role in September 2024, resigning her See around that same time.[20] On 20 September 2024, she was additionally commissioned an honorary assistant bishop of the neighbouring Diocese of Lichfield (and a member of the diocesan House of Bishops).[21]
Views and Interests
Hollinghurst has spoken on areas relating to the church’s mission including a recorded series on the Five Marks of Mission and at various conferences. [22][23]
Other past and present research interests include feminist theology, gender and the language of God,[24] Environmental Theology and Christian Spirituality.[25] Hollinghurst has contributed a chapter on Franciscan spirituality and nature to the book Earthed.[26]
In the public square Hollinghurst has spoken out on a number of issues. She was one of the 31 Church of England bishops who called on the Government to sign the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. [27]
She has campaigned on environmental issues, taking part in the Big One Climate Protest April 2023 as part of Christian Climate Action, stating – “it’s time to act on what we know about the effects of burning of fossil fuels and how this continues to accelerate rapidly rising global warming and the environmental disaster that follows, impacting especially the poorest communities across our world.” [28]
Other interests include education, housing and modern slavery. [29]
As Acting Bishop of Birmingham she led the Diocese from October 2022 through key stages of the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process supporting the proposals for the Prayers of Love and Faith, which include enabling prayers for God’s blessing to be prayed for same-sex couples. She was one of 44 bishops who signed an open letter in November 2023 which recognised “the complexities of Pastoral Guidance in relation to ministry, and also the need for a swift end to the current uncertainty for LGBTQIA+ clergy and ordinands”, calling for “the removal of restrictions on clergy entering same-sex civil marriages, and on bishops ordaining and licensing such clergy, as well as granting permissions to officiate”. It expressed a longing that “we will find a way that will recognise and honour our different perspectives and the gift we are to each other within the life of the Church of England, such that no one is expected to act against their conscience or theological conviction”.[30]
A letter signed by over 85 church leaders across the Diocese of Birmingham was published in December 2023 expressing their gratitude to Hollinghurst for her leadership and modelling of the Pastoral Principles. [31]
Personal life
In 1984, she married Steve Hollinghurst.[32] He is a priest in the Church of England who worked with the Church Army.[33] from 2003 to 2019. He is currently Diocesan Mission Enabler, Environment, with Hereford Diocese. [34]
^Jonathan, Br (4 September 2020). "September 2020". Mucknell Abbey. Retrieved 2 November 2023. This piece of news strictly belongs in last month's mlog (monastic blog), but I didn't want it to get missed. On the 25 August Bishop Anne Hollinghurst of Aston became our new Bishop Visitor. Bishop John of Worcester, whose term as Visitor has come to an end, has been our Visitor for the last ten years. The Visitor's job is to provide oversight and support and make sure we don't go way off-piste.
^"UK news in brief". Church Times. 13 May 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2024. Episcopal oversight will be exercised by the Bishop of Aston, the Rt Revd Anne Hollinghurst, until a new bishop is appointed