The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley has formally left her role as Bishop of Ripon after five years to become Bishop of Newcastle.
At a special evensong service at Ripon Cathedral, Bishop Helen-Ann removed her diocesan cope, stole and mitre and placed them on the altar in a symbolic act of standing down.
Paying tribute to to the people of the Ripon episcopal area, she said:
“I have often felt most affirmed in my role as Bishop of Ripon by people and groups who are not part of the formal structures of the church, and for whose support and encouragement I will be forever grateful: by our civic and military partners, those who work in the rural and farming economies and the running community.”
With Bishop of Leeds Nick Baines
She praised Ripon Runners, of which she was a member, for giving her mental and physical challenges, such as once having to define “evil” while running up a hill to Ripon’s Morrisons supermarket.
Bishop of Leeds Nick Baines said Bishop Helen-Ann had been a blessing to the diocese in the five years since she arrived from New Zealand, accompanied at that service by a group of Maori elders.
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Bishop Nick presenting her with a framed aerial view of Fountains Abbey, near Ripon, as a parting gift. He said
“Let us continue to pray for Bishop Helen-Ann and her husband Myles and pray that they will thrive and build new friendships with colleagues in Newcastle.”
The bishop’s final sermon in Ripon.
The appointment of a bishop is a lengthy and opaque process that requires the consent of Downing Street.
The Stray Ferret asked the Anglican Diocese of Leeds when a new Bishop of Ripon was likely to be appointed.
A spokesman said:
“A process to find her successor is underway and will be concluded as swiftly as possible.”
