The Rt Revd Alison White is to retire as Bishop of Hull in February 2022.
She has served as Bishop of Hull since her consecration as the Church of England's second female bishop in York Minster on the 3rd July 2015, in succession to the Rt Revd Richard Frith.
Alison studied English and then Theology at Durham, and went on to serve as deaconess, then deacon and later priest at Chester-le-Street and then Birtley in the Diocese of Durham. She studied for an MA in Theology through Leeds University. From 1989 to 1993 she served as Durham’s Diocesan Adviser in Local Mission, and then spent 5 years as Director of Mission and Pastoral Studies at Cranmer Hall.
She was Director of Ordinands for Durham Diocese and then part of the national Springboard Team (in which she worked alongside the present Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell) before moving to Peterborough Diocese as Adult Education Officer, also becoming a Canon of Peterborough Cathedral. In 2011 she moved to the Diocese of Newcastle, where her husband Frank had become Assistant Bishop of Newcastle. She served as Adviser for Spirituality and Spiritual Direction and Priest-in-Charge of Riding Mill. She was also honorary Canon Theologian at Sheffield Cathedral
On her appointment as Bishop of Hull, then-Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu said, "Alison is a person of real godliness and wisdom – it is fantastic that she has accepted God’s call to make Christ visible together with all of us in this Diocese of York."
As Bishop of Hull she has held a particular responsibility for the care of the people, parishes and clergy in the City of Hull, across the East Riding of Yorkshire and on the Yorkshire coast as far north as Ravenscar. Across the Diocese of York as a whole, Archbishop Sentamu appointed her Ambassador for Prayer and Spirituality and for Urban Life & Faith; in this capacity she has overseen the team that has launched Mustard Seed, the Diocese of York's initiative to build new worshipping communities amongst those living in places where life is tough.
Bishop Alison said, "I have loved being Bishop here in Hull and the East Riding – what an enormous gift! There are so many great people that I have met, worked with and prayed alongside. It will be a huge wrench to leave but I will carry the stories, and hopes with me. Lots of new things are happening and it seems right for a new person to come and take all that forward.”