Church of England appoints first female Bishop.

The Church of England has appointed Reverend Libby Lane 48, a vicar of St. Peter’s Hale and St. Elizabeth’s Ashley in the Diocese of Chester its first female bishop in a historic move only a month after a vote by the church’s ruling body allowed women to become top clerics.

She is now the Bishop of Stockport in Northern England. Her appointment overturns centuries of tradition in a Church that has been deeply divided over the issue.

In her acceptance speech, Reverend Lisbane said, It is an unexpected joy to be here today,"

"It is a remarkable day for me and I realize an historic day for the church."

She added: "I am conscious this morning of countless women and men who for decades have looked forward to the time when the Church of England would announce its first woman bishop.”

Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "Congratulations to Rev. Libby Lane on becoming the first woman bishop in the Church. An historic appointment and important day for equality."

Lane is married to Reverend George Lane, Coordinating Chaplain at Manchester Airport, and they have two grown up children. She attended school in Manchester and University at Oxford, then trained for ministry at Cranmer Hall in Durham. 

In 1993, she was ordained a deacon and a priest in 1994, serving her curacy in Blackburn, Lancashire. Since 2010 she has also held the role of Dean of Women in Ministry for the diocese of Chester.

Mrs. Lane will be consecrated as the eighth bishop of the town at a ceremony at York Minster on 26 January.