Bishop 'overwhelmed' at special service attendance

4 hours ago

Luke Deal,in Ipswichand

Alice Cunningham,Suffolk

News image — The new Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Dr Joanne Grenfell, will be officially welcomed into the role

Jamie Niblock/BBC The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Dr Joanne Grenfell, smiles at the camera as she sits in a room with bookshelves behind her. She has short, dark curly hair and wears a black coat with a pink clerical top underneath and a white clerical collar. She is also wearing glasses. — The new Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Dr Joanne Grenfell, will be officially welcomed into the role

A new bishop said she felt "overwhelmed" that 800 people were coming to share in a special service to officially mark the beginning of her role.

The Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Dr Joanne Grenfell, took on the role in September last year after the Right Reverend Martin Seeley retired after 10 years.

A service of welcome and enthronement at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds will be held for her on Saturday at 14:00 GMT.

The 53-year-old said it had felt like a "whirlwind" since she was announced as the next bishop and she was looking forward to the ceremony.

The Church of England Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, Dr Joanne Grenfell, holds a legal document inside a church. She is dressed in her bishop's robes. She has short black hair, glasses and she is smiling at the camera. — Dr Joanne Grenfell was legally confirmed as the new Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich last year

"People are so lovely, so welcoming," she said.

"I can't believe the number of people who have said yes to the invitations to come.

"I feel really honoured that they want to be there and do that with me."

Bishop Grenfell is the first woman to lead a diocese in Suffolk and recently met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace as part of the formalities of stepping into the role.

The King is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England and Bishop Grenfell was able to pray with him.

"That was incredibly moving and really a reminder of the service to the county that this job involves for me under God, which was something the King really understood," she continued.

"That was really touching."

Getty Images A view of St Edmundsbury Cathedral. The large cathedral can be seen high above nearby buildings and towering over nearby trees. — The ceremony will involve Bishop Grenfell taking her declaration of oaths on a Bible from 1611 at St Edmundsbury Cathedral

The welcome and enthronement service, which is invitation-only, will see guests from across the country as well as many local young people and children.

There will also be bishops from Tanzania in East Africa, whose diocese has enjoyed a reciprocal partnership link with Suffolk since 1994.

Bishop Grenfell said rehearsals had taken place earlier in the week that had left her "emotional".

"It just reminds me of the weight of it and that's OK, it's a serious commitment," she added.

"So the rehearsal helped me get that out of my system."

The bishop said her priorities going forward would be to inspire young people within the church and local groups, while meeting with agricultural and fishing communities to hear their concerns.

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