Barry Rogerson

Who is Barry Rogerson?

Barry Rogerson was the first Bishop of Wolverhampton from 1979 to 1985 and, from then until his retirement in 2002, the Bishop of Bristol.

Rogerson was educated at the University of Leeds and Wells Theological College. Initially a bank employee, he was ordained in 1962 after which he held curacies at St Hilda’s South Shields and St Nicholas’ Bishopwearmouth. From 1967 to 1975 he was a lecturer at Lichfield Theological College and then Salisbury and Wells Theological College, after which he became Vicar of St Thomas’, Wednesfield—a post he held until his ordination to the episcopate. In retirement he continues to serve as an honorary assistant bishop in the Diocese of Bath and Wells as well as being a governor of the University of the West of England.

In the course of his episcopal ministry in Bristol, Rogerson ordained the first 32 female priests in the Church of England on 12 March 1994 at his cathedral.