Joanne Grenfell
Joanne Woolway Grenfell is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2025, she has served as Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich in the Church of England; she had previously been Bishop of Stepney, an area bishop in the Diocese of London.
Early life and education
Grenfell was born on 27 May 1972 in Enfield, Middlesex, England to John and Christine Woolway. She was educated at Egglescliffe School, a comprehensive school in Eaglescliffe, County Durham. She studied at Oriel College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993. She then moved to Canada, where she studied English literature at the University of British Columbia: she graduated with a Master of Arts degree in 1994. She returned to Oriel to undertake a Doctor of Philosophy degree on the writing of Edmund Spenser. Her doctoral thesis was titled "Spenser and the culture of place", and her DPhil was awarded in 1997.Grenfell was a lecturer in English Literature at Oriel College, Oxford until 1998. She then trained for ordained ministry in the Church of England at Westcott House, Cambridge, from 1998 until 2000.
Ordained ministry
She was ordained deacon in Liverpool Cathedral, at Petertide 2000, by John Packer, Bishop of Ripon and Leeds. They were both ordained priest the following Trinity Sunday by James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, at Liverpool Cathedral.Following a curacy in Kirkby in the Diocese of Liverpool, she was appointed Priest in charge in the Sheffield Manor ecumenical team ministry. Following this she was a residentiary Canon at Sheffield Cathedral, Diocesan Director of Ordinands and Dean of Women's Ministry in the Diocese of Sheffield. She was installed as Archdeacon of Portsdown in the Diocese of Portsmouth during a service at Portsmouth Cathedral on 14 April 2013, serving until 2019.
Episcopal ministry
Her consecration as bishop, and start of her tenure as Bishop of Stepney, was on 3 July 2019 at St Paul's Cathedral; the principal consecrator was Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury. Since April 2023, she also been lead bishop for safeguarding and chair of the National Safeguarding Steering Group, having succeeded Jonathan Gibbs.On 27 June 2025, it was announced that she would be the next Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, in succession to Martin Seeley. She duly took up her See — taking over her diocese — at the confirmation of her election, in a ceremony held on 5 September 2025 at St Mary-le-Bow, London.