The Rt. Rev. Cherry Vann, aged 66, the bishop of Monmouth, was elected as the 15th archbishop of Wales. She is notably the first woman and the first lesbian to assume this role.
According to The Telegraph, she was selected by an electoral college made up of clergy and lay members after two days of discussions at St. Pierre church near Chepstow.
Originally from Leicester, Cherry Vann was ordained as a deacon in 1989 and became one of the first women to be ordained as a priest in the Church of England in 1994. She served as archdeacon of Rochdale in the Diocese of Manchester for over ten years before becoming bishop of Monmouth in 2019.
Her biography on the Church in Wales’ official website states that she lives with her civil partner, Wendy, along with their two dogs.
Same-sex civil partnerships and marriages have been legal in England and Wales since 2013, though the Church of England continues to uphold the belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.
In 2021, the Church in Wales approved the blessing of same-sex unions. Meanwhile, the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church of Scotland already permit same-sex marriage ceremonies.
Andrea Williams, the Chief Executive of Christian Concern, accused the Church in Wales of straying from its core principles. In a statement to The Christian Post, she expressed that Vann’s open same-sex relationship “contradicts the Church’s historic doctrine that marriage is a lifelong union between a man and a woman, and that sexual relationships are reserved for marriage.”
Williams argued that Vann, having sworn to uphold church teachings as an ordained minister, is now “living in deliberate rejection of those very doctrines.” She added that her election, supported by two-thirds of the electoral college, indicates that the Church in Wales has “institutionally turned away from biblical teaching.”
“No Bible-believing Christian can remain under the spiritual leadership of someone who so publicly rejects the clear teaching of Scripture,” she stated.
Archbishop Cherry Vann’s predecessor, the Rt. Rev. Andrew John, resigned last month after serving just three and a half years in the role. His resignation followed the release of a safeguarding review at Bangor Cathedral, which uncovered evidence of a culture involving sexual misconduct, bullying, blurred sexual boundaries, and excessive drinking.
Although the review did not find John personally guilty of misconduct, he issued an apology, taking full responsibility for the leadership failures during his tenure.
