
Photo Credit: Anglican Taonga
[Anglican Taonga] The Bishop of Waikato has been elected an honorary fellow of her former Oxford college.
The Rt Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley studied at Worcester College in Oxford from 1998 to 2005. An honorary fellowship is the highest recognition given by the college to former members for their work in the college and the world.
Bishop Helen-Ann is recognised for her academic work in the Anglican Church and for becoming the first female bishop to have trained for priesthood in the Church of England.
“For me, personally, this is an immense honour,” she says. “To share the title of honorary fellow with such an inspiring group of women is a deep privilege and inevitably draws the life of the Diocese of Waikato and Taranaki into the life of the college, and of Oxford University.
“This recognition also acknowledges the important steps taken to enable gender equality across the whole of church life. While there is a way to go, accolades such as this honorary fellowship send a clear statement to the whole church.
“The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, NZ and Polynesia has a long association with Oxford: Sir Paul Reeves and Archbishop Sir David Moxon both studied at Oxford, and many others active in the church today have Oxford degrees.”
Bishop Helen-Ann was inducted as an honorary fellow at Choral Evensong yesterday (Sunday) in Oxford.