'An inspiration to women' City's first female bishop steps down

BRISTOL’S first female bishop has stood down after seven years.

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The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull retired as Bishop of Bristol following a service at Bristol Cathedral on Saturday.

She had held the post for the past seven years at the end of 42 pioneering years in ministry.

In tribute, Dean of Bristol Dr Mandy Ford said: “As a deaconess, priest, dean and bishop, Bishop Viv has been an inspiration to women in ministry since the 1980s. She has been in senior leadership in the Church of England for as long as I have been ordained, and has held those roles with wisdom, resilience and fortitude. I am particularly grateful to Bishop Viv for her encouragement over the years, firstly in the Diocese of Leicester, and most recently in Bristol.