She is about to make history as the Church of England’s first woman bishop, a role that will rewrite more than 500 years of doctrine and see the eyes of the world turned upon her. And the appointment of Libby Lane as the new bishop of Stockport will also, she hopes, send a signal to young girls regardless of their faith.
“Knowing Jesus made sense to me as a teenager,” said Lane this weekend, “and if my appointment encourages a single young girl to lift her eyes up a bit and to realise that she has capacity and potential, and that those around her don’t need to dictate what is possible, then I would be really honoured.”
This is a position that her supporters believe Lane was destined to fulfil, but the new bishop intimates that her swift rise up the church hierarchy might not have happened if she had not been a middle child.
Lane, who will be consecrated in a ceremony at York Minster on Monday, reveals that being squeezed between two siblings had a formative influence that made her strive that much harder. She has two children of her own. “I was the one in the middle who tried to make things work,” Lane says. “My older sister is very clever. I’m bright and I worked hard, but I’m always conscious of following in my sister’s footsteps.”
The healthy sense of sibling rivalry inculcated a desire to get things done, she believes. “I think there was probably a degree of steel and determination from there quite early, overlaid with a desire to keep people engaged and happy,” she says in a short documentary to be released by the Church of England on YouTube.
Lane admits to feeling the pressure that comes with the historic appointment, expressing concern that her position may distract people from the message of Christ.
“I am aware that what I say and do will be heard by millions, many of whom have no other contact with the church,” she says.
“They will make an assessment of Christ in that, and so I’ve been trying to hold the prayer that, whatever I’ve done or said, somehow Christ will be seen in it, or at least I won’t get in the way of that.”
Revealing a glass half full attitude that may stand her in good stead in the potentially fraught times ahead, Elizabeth Jane Holden “Libby” Lane, whose husband is the chaplain at Manchester airport, stresses that she would “much rather travel with people than confront them”, but insists that that “doesn’t mean I won’t face up to difficult choices or decisions when they have to be made”.
Aware that her appointment has been greeted with dismay by traditional elements within the church, Lane – who attended Manchester School for Girls and St Peter’s College, Oxford – stresses that “I genuinely think diversity is better than being monochrome, even when that makes us uncomfortable. A bit of discomfort is good for us.”
The documentary suggests that the Manchester United fan, who was born in Glossop, Derbyshire, in 1966, believes that nurturing the next generation is a vital part of the church’s role.
“My family didn’t go to church when I was growing up. I was invited to a youth group by a friend when I was 11, to the church in the next village along from where I lived. I was absolutely captivated from the first time that I went. I went the first week and enjoyed it and I came back and the fact that the second week the vicar and members of that congregation remembered my name and things about me made a huge impression on me.”
It was the start of Lane’s journey through the ranks of the Church of England, where she has served the dioceses of York and of Chester.
“They welcomed me into the extended family of that church and included me as an adolescent,” she recalled. “They loved me into faith and they undoubtedly nurtured my sense of vocation.”
The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has praised Lane’s appointment and hinted that her temperament makes her ideally suited for the role. “Her Christ-centred life, calmness and clear determination to serve the church and the community make her a wonderful choice,” Welby said.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
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First female bishop: I want to be a role model for girls
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