Anne Elizabeth Hollinghurst (born 4 March 1964) is a Church of England bishop currently serving as Principal of The Queen's Foundation, Edgbaston.
[6] Hollinghurst was ordained in the Church of England: made a deacon at Petertide 1996 (30 June) by Patrick Harris, Bishop of Southwell at Southwell Minster[7] and ordained a priest the Petertide following (28 June 1997), by Alan Morgan, Bishop of Sherwood at Christ Church, Chilwell.
[3][5] She completed a Master of Studies (MSt) degree in Jewish Christian Relations at Hughes Hall, Cambridge in 2010.
She was one of the 31 Church of England bishops who called on the Government to sign the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
[27] She has campaigned on environmental issues, taking part in the Big One Climate Protest April 2023 as part of Christian Climate Action, stating – “it’s time to act on what we know about the effects of burning of fossil fuels and how this continues to accelerate rapidly rising global warming and the environmental disaster that follows, impacting especially the poorest communities across our world.” [28] Other interests include education, housing and modern slavery.
[29] As Acting Bishop of Birmingham she led the Diocese from October 2022 through key stages of the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith process supporting the proposals for the Prayers of Love and Faith, which include enabling prayers for God’s blessing to be prayed for same-sex couples.
It expressed a longing that “we will find a way that will recognise and honour our different perspectives and the gift we are to each other within the life of the Church of England, such that no one is expected to act against their conscience or theological conviction”.
[30] A letter signed by over 85 church leaders across the Diocese of Birmingham was published in December 2023 expressing their gratitude to Hollinghurst for her leadership and modelling of the Pastoral Principles.