On Friday 19 July, Bristol’s first female bishop, the Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by UWE Bristol in recognition of her service to faith communities in Bristol and her pioneering work within the church promoting roles for women.
Bishop Viv also became the first woman to lead a Church of England Cathedral as provost and to be made Dean of Leicester in 2000.
She is among nine individuals receiving honorary degrees at UWE Bristol’s series of graduation ceremonies held at the Bristol Beacon, in recognition of outstanding achievements in their chosen fields and significant contributions to Bristol.
Within her role as the 56th Bishop of Bristol with more than 200 churches and 72 church schools in her care across North Wiltshire, Swindon, South Gloucestershire and the city of Bristol, Bishop Viv has prioritised community engagement initiatives to support residents. These include food banks, the warm spaces scheme which sees churches open to the community if they are struggling with the rising costs of heating their own home, and Feeding Bristol, which ensures children have access to food and activities over the school holidays.
Bishop Viv’s most recent priorities for her churches have included investing in work with children and young people in partnership with schools, increasing financial support for parishes where there is greatest social need and working to implement the national church commitment to Net Zero by 2030.
Bishop Viv trained for ministry at Saint John’s College, Nottingham and Nottingham University, before serving as a deaconess in the Diocese of Liverpool from 1982 to 1985. She became chaplain, later fellow, of Clare College, Cambridge, and was made deacon in the Diocese of Ely in 1987.
She began cathedral ministry in 1990 as chaplain at Gloucester Cathedral where she was ordained priest in 1994, following the Church of England's vote to allow women to the priesthood in 1992. Bishop Viv was Dean of York prior to her appointment as Bishop of Bristol. She is a Church Commissioner and a member of the House of Lords.
On receiving her Honorary Degree from UWE Bristol, Bishop Viv said:
“In this thirtieth anniversary year of the ordination of women as priests in Bristol I am so grateful for this unexpected award of an honorary Doctorate which I am thrilled to receive in memory of the women of Bristol whose work and witness made it possible for me to become the 56th and first female Bishop of Bristol”.