[Church of Ireland] The House of Bishops of the Church of Ireland, meeting Sept. 19 in Dublin, appointed the Rev. Pat (Patricia) Storey as the new bishop of Meath and Kildare, to succeed the Most Rev. Richard Clarke, who is now archbishop of Armagh. Storey, currently rector of St. Augustine’s Parish Church in Londonderry, is the first woman in the Church of Ireland to be appointed a bishop.

Clarke described Storey as “a person of great warmth, intelligence and spiritual depth and I am certain that her ministry in the dioceses of Meath and Kildare and the wider church will be a blessing to many. We remember her and her family in our prayers.”

Storey said she is “both excited and daunted by this new adventure in our lives. I have had an extraordinarily happy experience in St. Augustine’s and in this wonderful city which I will be sad to leave. However, I count it an enormous privilege to begin a new phase of my ministry with the people of Meath and Kildare, and I look forward to working with the team of clergy who are already there. I would sincerely ask for your prayers for myself and my family, who are the best family in the world.”

Storey, 53, has been rector of St. Augustine’s since 2004. She is married to the Rev. Earl Storey and has two adult children, Carolyn and Luke, and a son–in–law Peter. Having grown up in Belfast and studied French and English at Trinity College, Dublin, she trained at the Church of Ireland Theological College (now Institute) and was ordained deacon in 1997 and priest in 1998. She served as a curate in Ballymena (Connor) and was a team vicar in Glenavy (Connor) and a part time youth worker coordinator with the Church of Ireland Youth Department. She is a member of the Standing Committee of the General Synod.

The consecration of the new bishop will take place in due course, followed by enthronement in the diocesan cathedrals thereafter.

The Most Rev. Michael Jackson, archbishop of Dublin and bishop of Glendalough, welcomed the appointment, saying it “brings delight to many within the dioceses, across the Church of Ireland and throughout the Anglican Communion. Pat herself brings to this work of God a warm personality and a breadth of spiritual gifts to share generously in the church and in the community. I look forward to having Pat as a colleague and neighbor and I encourage everyone to pray for her, for Earl and for their family as she embarks on this fresh journey of service and leadership of God’s people.”