In front of a crowd of more than 1000 people at York Minster Cathedral; including representatives from Altrincham College, Libby Lane was ordained as the Church of England’s first female Bishop on Monday.

Libby’s consecration comes just six months after the Church voted to allow women to take its top jobs for the first time since its formation. In what has been deemed as a “profound and remarkable moment” by Libby Lane's former curate at Hale, the consecration of a female bishop marks what many believe to be a turning point for the Anglican Communion.  

Libby said: “It is a remarkable thing that this has happened to me. People have been very supportive of me personally, but actually this is about a moment in the Church's history."

Teachers from the Religious Education department of Altrincham College; Ruth Beattie and Lianne Moore, were in attendance at York Minster on Monday, with Ruth being interviewed by Smooth and Capital fm.

Speaking after the Consecration, Ruth said: “It was a real honour and privilege to attend such a historic event at the Minster. The ceremony was both spectacular and moving and was so very well received by the congregation. Rev Libby has been a governor at Altrincham College for some years and we have developed excellent links with the parish of St Peter as a result. We, as the RE department, have worked closely with Rev Libby, and have had many valuable conversations regarding religion within the community, and have subsequently organised many educational visits to the church.  

Everyone here is tremendously proud of this landmark moment, and we felt it was of great importance that we were there to show the support and respect felt for Libby by everyone at Altrincham College.”