Queen appoints a new Bishop of Hull
NEW BISHOP TRANSFER FROM NEW ZEALAND
HER Majesty the Queen has approved the appointment of the new Bishop of Hull.
The Right Reverend Eleanor Sanderson will be Suffragan Bishop of Hull in the Diocese of York after the retirement of the Right Reverend Alison White.
Dr Sanderson is making a long journey from a religious posting in New Zealand and Polynesia to start the role.
She has been assistant bishop of Wellington in the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia since 2017.
Dr Sanderson, also known as Ellie, is married to Tim and mother to two boys aged 12 and 14. Her formal inauguration as the bishop is expected to take place in autumn.
Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said: “I’m delighted that Eleanor Sanderson will be the next Bishop of Hull. She has a great zest for life, and the joy she finds in her faith just shines out of her.
“Ellie has her feet planted on the ground and her eyes on Jesus as she rolls up her sleeves to get involved with God’s people. She was born in the Diocese of York so this is a homecoming; I know that the Diocese and particularly the people of Hull, the East Riding, and on the Yorkshire coast will come to love her quickly and that she, Tim, and their sons Joe and Zac will be taken to all our hearts.”
The Bishop of Hull is one of three Suffragan Bishops supporting and extending the ministry of the Archbishop of York in the Diocese of
York. It covers the Archdeaconry of the East Riding and part of the North Yorkshire coast including Scarborough and as far north as Ravenscar.
Dr Sanderson was born in Hinderwell, near Whitby in North Yorkshire in 1977 and grew up in Derbyshire.
She was ordained in 2005 and her ministry to date has been entirely in New Zealand.
Reacting to her appointment as Bishop of Hull, Dr Sanderson said: “I’m so excited and humbled to be called to follow Alison White as Bishop of Hull.
“It’s a great honour to take this title from such a vibrant and historic city as Hull, and to renew a connection between this city and my family village of Tideswell in Derbyshire, which was also the home of the first Bishop of Hull, Bishop Pursglove in the 1500s.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know Hull and its people and to exploring the villages and towns of the East Riding Archdeaconry and the Yorkshire coast too.”
The new Bishop of Hull said she was inspired both by Hull’s anti-slavery campaigner and MP William Wilberforce and Pacific Island communities.
She said: “One of the hardest parts of saying goodbye will be the rich life of our ‘Three Tikanga’ Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia.
“Part of my doctoral research was
working in partnership with Melanesian Communities in Fiji and then later with women from the Mothers’ Union in Tonga.
“My ordinations took place in mats woven for me by the women of these communities and symbolised my belonging and connection to them. So, our family has a deep sense of belonging in these Pacific Islands.
“But personally I feel really keenly the connection with William Wilberforce and Hull. The Melanesian communities in Fiji are a consequence of indentured labour.”