Jill Duff

The Right Reverend Jill Duff
Bishop of Lancaster
Church	Church of England
Diocese	Diocese of Blackburn
In office	2018–present
Other post(s)	Director of St Mellitus College, North West (March 2013 – 2018)
Orders
Ordination	2003 (deacon) 2004 (priest)
Consecration	2018
Personal details
Born	Jillian Louise Calland Worsley 1972 (age 52–53) Bolton, Lancashire, England
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglicanism
Spouse	Rev. Jeremy Duff
Children	2 sons
Alma mater	Christ's College, Cambridge Worcester College, Oxford Wycliffe Hall, Oxford

Jillian Louise Calland Duff (called Jill;[1][2][3][4] née Worsley; born 1972) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2018, she has been the Bishop of Lancaster, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Blackburn. Previously, she had been Director of St Mellitus College, North West, an Anglican theological college, from 2013 to 2018.

Before ordination, she studied chemistry at university and worked in the oil industry. After ordination in the Church of England, she served in the Diocese of Liverpool in parish ministry, chaplaincy, and church planting.

Early life and education

Duff was born in 1972 in Bolton, Lancashire, England.[5][6] She was educated at Bolton School, a private school in Bolton.[1] She studied Natural Sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1993:[6][2] as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree in 1997.[6] She then studied chemistry at Worcester College, Oxford, completing her Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) degree in 1996.[6][2] Her doctoral thesis was titled "Investigations of redox-coupled proton transfer by iron-sulfur cluster systems in proteins".[7] Her early career was spent working in the oil industry.[5]

Ordained ministry

Duff trained for ordained ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, an evangelical Anglican theological college.[1] She also studied theology during this time, and graduated from Wycliffe with a BA degree in 2002.[6] She was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2003 and as a priest in 2004.[6]

From 2003 to 2005, Duff served her curacy at St Philip's Church, Litherland in the Diocese of Liverpool.[1] In 2005, she was appointed the first pioneer minister in the Diocese of Liverpool.[2] In that role, she was tasked with planting churches in Liverpool city centre to evangelise to the unchurched in their 20s and 30s.[5][2] In 2009, she was additionally appointed chaplain to Liverpool College, then a private all-through school:[5] she would continue this role part-time until 2016.[1]

In 2011, Duff left her church planting role, and was appointed a vocations development advisor in the Diocese of Liverpool and an initial ministerial education (IME) tutor.[5][6][1] In 2012, she liaised between St Mellitus College, an Anglican theological college in London, and the Church of England's north west dioceses (Blackburn, Carlisle, Chester, Liverpool, and Manchester) to create a new theological college in the North West of England.[2] In March 2013, she was appointed the first director of St Mellitus College, North West.[5][2] St Mellitus NW is the first full-time ordination course in the North West since St Aidan's College, Birkenhead was closed in 1969.[2] She has additionally held Permission to Officiate in the Dioceses of Liverpool since 2013, of Chester since 2017, and Diocese of St Asaph since 2018.[6]

Episcopal ministry

On 13 March 2018, Duff was announced as the next Bishop of Lancaster, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Blackburn.[5][1] She was consecrated a bishop by John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, on 29 June 2018 during a service at York Minster.[8][3][4] She was installed as the eighth suffragan Bishop of Lancaster in July 2018 during a service at Blackburn Cathedral.[9]

Views

Duff is an evangelical Anglican.[10] She was involved in the Church of England's "Living in Love and Faith" (LLF);[11] discussions relating to "matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage".[12] She was also involved in The Beautiful Story, a film released by the Church of England Evangelical Council in response to LLF which championed the Church of England's traditional teaching on sex, sexuality and same-sex relationships.[11] She holds an "orthodox position" on sex and marriage, which means that she is against same-sex marriage.[13]

In 2023, following the news that the House of Bishop's of the Church of England was to introduce proposals for blessing same-sex relationships, she signed an open letter which stated:[14]

many Christians in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion, together with Christians from across the churches of world Christianity, continue to believe that marriage is given by God for the union of a man and woman and that it cannot be extended to those who are of the same sex. [...] Without seeking to diminish the value of many committed same-sex relationships, for which there is much to give thanks, we find ourselves constrained by what we sincerely believe the Scriptures teach which cannot be set aside.[14]

During the Church of England's February 2023 General Synod meeting, Duff was one of four bishops in the house to vote against the successful proposal to introduce blessings and prayers for same-sex relationships.[15] She also voted against introducing "standalone services for same-sex couples" on a trial basis during a meeting of the General Synod in November 2023; the motion passed.[16][17]

Despite being an "outspoken opponent of the introduction of blessings for same-sex couples in the Church of England", she took part in the laying on of hands during the consecration of David Morris as a bishop in the Church in Wales: he is engaged to marry a man but the Church in Wales allows its clergy to enter into same-sex marriages.[18]

Personal life

Duff is married to Jeremy Duff: he is an Anglican priest who is currently the Principal of St Padarn's Institute, a theological training initiative of the Church in Wales. He is also the author of a well known Greek textbook, “The Elements of New Testament Greek (3rd edition)”.[1] Together they have two sons.[2]

References

1. "Next Anglican Bishop of Lancaster is Rev Dr Jill Duff". Diocese of Blackburn. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
2. "Jill Duff joins SMC staff". St Mellitus College. 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
3. Jacobs, Bill (13 March 2018). "Church of England names Dr Jill Duff as first female bishop in Lancashire". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
4. "Jill Duff announced as next Bishop of Lancaster". St Mellitus. 13 March 2018. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
5. "Queen approves appointment of Suffragan See of Lancaster". Government of the United Kingdom. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
6. "Jillian Louise Calland Duff". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
7. Duff, Jillian L. C. (1996). "Investigations of redox-coupled proton transfer by iron-sulfur cluster systems in proteins". E-Thesis Online Service. The British Library Board.
8. Daily Telegraph Issue no 50,733 (dated Saturday 30 June 2018) p6, news
9. "Installation of The Bishop Of Lancaster Rt Rev. Dr Jill Duff". Blackburn Cathedral. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2018.
10. Macintyre, James (13 March 2018). "Jill Duff, evangelical with oil industry background, appointed bishop of Lancaster". Christian Today. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
11. Goddard, Andrew (18 November 2020). "Living in Love and Faith: an evangelical response". Christian Today. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
12. "About Living in Love and Faith". The Church of England. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
13. Duff, Jill (9 November 2020). "Don't pre-judge the CofE's new resources on sexuality". Premier Christianity. Retrieved 26 April 2021. So we who hold an orthodox position [...] We have an advantage of unity, the status quo, and the international Christian community, and two millennia of history.
14. "LLF: a paper on the Doctrine of Marriage". Thinking Anglicans. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
15. "General Synod 9 TH February 2023 – Item 11" (PDF). Church of England. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
16. "GENERAL SYNOD NOVEMBER 2023 GROUP OF SESSIONS BUSINESS DONE AT 5 P.M." (PDF). churchofengland.org. The Church of England. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023. 7. The motion (as amended) 'That this Synod, conscious that the Church is not of one mind on the issues raised by Living in Love and Faith, that we are in a period of uncertainty, and that many in the Church on all sides are being deeply hurt at this time, recognise the progress made by the House of Bishops towards implementing the motion on Living in Love and Faith passed by this Synod in February 2023, as reported in GS 2328, encourage the House to continue its work of implementation, and ask the House to consider whether some standalone services for same-sex couples could be made available for use, possibly on a trial basis, on the timescale envisaged by the motion passed by the Synod in February 2023.' was carried following a counted vote by Houses.
17. "General Synod 15th November 2023 – Item 007" (PDF). churchofengland.org. The Church of England. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
18. Martin, Francis (17 May 2024). "Bishop of Lancaster: I cannot judge Welsh bishop". Church Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.