Bishop of Sheffield
The Rt Revd Dr Pete Wilcox has been ordained for more than 35 years. He trained at Ridley Hall in Cambridge after completing a degree in modern history at Durham University. After serving as a curate on Teesside, he studied for a doctorate at Oxford University. In 1993, he returned to the Durham Diocese to serve as a team vicar in the Parish of Gateshead, while assisting in the training of ordinands at Cranmer Hall as Director of its Urban Mission Centre.
In 1998 he took up a new position as priest in charge of St Paul’s Church at the Crossing in Walsall. Between August 2006 and July 2012 he was Canon Chancellor at Lichfield Cathedral, a post which involved oversight of the Cathedral’s work in education and outreach.
Between 2012 and 2017 Pete then spent a formative 5 years as Dean of Liverpool, overseeing the largest Cathedral building in the Church of England.
On 7 April 2017, it was announced that Pete would be the next Bishop of Sheffield and was installed on 23 September 2017 in Sheffield Cathedral. He was introduced to the House of Lords in March 2023.
He is married to the novelist, Catherine Fox and they have two adult sons. Pete is a fan of all ball sports, and follows the fortunes of Newcastle United especially closely. He is the author of three books: Living the Dream (2007), Walking the Walk (2009) and Talking the Talk (2011)
Bishop of Doncaster
Bishop Sophie Jelley was, until recently, the Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster in the Diocese of Sheffield. On the 4th November 2024 it was announced by Downing Street that she was to be the new Bishop of Coventry, after her nomination was approved by the King. Find out more
Revd Leah Vasey-Saunders was announced in May 2025 as the next Bishop of Doncaster. Leah became vicar of Lancaster Priory in 2021 and is the first female Vicar of Lancaster. Leah came to Lancaster from Wakefield Cathedral in the Diocese of Leeds, where she served as Canon Precentor from 2016. Previously she had served in the parish of Harworth and Bircotes in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham – being vicar at the time of the demolition of the pit tower. Leah served her first incumbency in the Diocese of Lichfield, as Team Vicar (and later Vicar) of St John’s, Heath Hayes and, prior to that, served in curacies at St John’s, Whorlton and St George’s, Jesmond in the Diocese of Newcastle.
Leah is married to Rev Dr Mark Vasey-Saunders, Centre Head for the Sheffield Teaching Centre of St Hild Theological College. Together they have four children: Reuben, aged 21, a music student at Manchester University; Jude,18; who is a commissioned Royal Air Force Air Cadet Officer and School Support Instructor, Elias, 17; and Miriam, 14, both of whom attend Chetham’s School of Music.
Music was Leah’s first love as a child born in Grimsby where she joined the Grimsby and Cleethorpes District Youth Orchestra. Leah was invited by a friend to join a church choir in Huddersfield, where she studied music at the University. It was there that she became a committed Christian – bellringing, teaching in the Sunday School and playing flute in the worship band. Her journey to faith and calling into ministry were simultaneous.
Following University Leah undertook two gap years in the Diocese of St Alban’s. One in a parish and another at the Cathedral. Three years of training and studying at Cranmer Hall, Durham followed until she was ordained Deacon in 2003, aged 25.
Leah is passionate about renewal in the Church of England and since 2015 has been a trustee of On Fire Mission, a charity promoting Charismatic renewal blended with the riches of Catholic spirituality. She became chair in 2021, steering it through its Covid 19 recovery, the move to a more central venue (in Staffordshire) and through a season of increased diversity and growth in capacity, governance and community.
Leah is a singer with an eclectic taste in music from Bach to Kate Rusby to Florence and the Machine, she especially enjoys singing choral music with her children. She is growing a significant collection of collaborative board games for her competitive family (!) and enjoys fibre crafts (Sewing, spinning, weaving). The family have two cats – a hairless Sphynx called Dora and a hairy Tortie called Ebbe. Find out more.
The Diocese is separated into two Archdeaconries: Doncaster; and Sheffield & Rotherham.
The Diocese of Sheffield is called to grow a sustainable network of Christ-like, lively and diverse Christian communities in every place which are effective in making disciples and in seeking to transform our society and God’s world.
We have 3 main links with other Dioceses internationally – in Germany, Argentina and Kenya