The former Dean of Salisbury has become the 72nd Bishop of Llandaff – and the second woman bishop in Wales.
Bishop June Osborne was consecrated at a service in Brecon Cathedral on Saturday.
Bishop June served as Dean of Salisbury for13 years, and said the move would serve as “something of a homecoming for the family, particularly because my husband is from Cardiff and it is a place we know and love”.
The address was given by the Bishop of Salisbury, Nicholas Holtam, and the Gospel was read by Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the USA, who was the Anglican Communion’s first woman primate.
Bishop June, one of the most senior church leaders in the UK, was appointed in April by the Church in Wales’ bishops, and is the second woman bishop in Wales.
Bishop June said: “Leading a diocese that is so diverse, in an area that is both historic and beautiful, will be challenging but I have an enormous appetite for the task and am deeply honoured to have the opportunity to join a diocesan team which is strong and imaginative. These are turbulent times across the world and the need for faith, and for the confident, distinctive leadership of the Church has never been more important."
A Choral Evensong was held at Salisbury Cathedral on July 9 to bid her farewell.
“How blessed I have been to hold that post,” she told a large gathering of family, friends and colleagues.
Canon Chancellor, Edward Probert said June had had made an enormous contribution to worship and the life of the cathedral community, in her 22 years there: the major repair programme, social justice - making the cathedral more outward-looking, the new font and toilets, playing a leading role on General Synod, the commemorations of the centenary of the First World War, the Leading Women programme, the Diocesan links with South Sudan and the Cathedral’s links with Stanford University in California. She has also been president of the Friends of Salisbury Cathedral.
The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam thanked her for her “marvellous contribution to the diocese” and presented her with a card signed by all the clergy in the diocese and a Bishop’s staff.
Among the gifts presented to her were a book in which dozens of people had written messages, a lectern in wood and glass made in the cathedral’s workshop and flowers from the Cathedral Flowers team.
A cake depicting Salisbury Cathedral, made by Susan Branch, was then cut by June and her husband Paul Goulding QC.
Bishop June was the first female Dean to be appointed to a medieval cathedral, having served as Salisbury Cathedral’s Canon Treasurer for nearly 10 years. She served on the General Synod’s Standing Committee for many years, including sitting on the Panel of Chairs.
And was one of the first women to be ordained as a priest in England in 1994, having been a Deaconess since 1980 and Deacon since 1987.
Bishop June will be enthroned at Llandaff Cathedral on July 22.
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