The Presidents of the Council of Christians and Jews have approved The Rt Revd Sarah Bullock, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, as the next Chair of Trustees of the charity. Bishop Sarah succeeds the Rt Revd Lord Michael Ipgrave as Chair and is the first woman to hold the position. She will take up her role at CCJ’s Annual General Meeting on Thursday 16 November 2023.

CCJ Trustees and staff wish to express their deep gratitude to outgoing Chair Bishop Michael for his indefatigable support and wisdom in guiding CCJ and, in particular, for navigating the challenging period during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bishop Sarah says:

“I was blessed to be raised in the global inner-city community of Moss Side, Manchester where my father served as parish priest. Living in such a diverse community naturally brought daily encounter with many cultures and expressions of faith and I experienced, from an early age, the joys and sometimes challenges of intercultural living and learning. Our family had strong ties to the Jewish community of Manchester (my mother taught for more than 30 years at King David High School) and we counted among our family friends many Jewish families. My mother, an historian, was involved in supporting the development of the Manchester Jewish Museum and always encouraged us, as a family, to 'encounter, listen, learn and grow'.

It was a privilege to serve my first ministerial post in the Church of England in Salford, Manchester, in a parish with a predominantly Jewish population and six synagogues within the parish boundaries. This time also provided me with many opportunities to continue to 'encounter, listen, learn and grow' as we built relationships, studied together and shared festivals.

In 2013 I was appointed as Archdeacon of York and served in the Staff Team of the Archbishop. I was recently deeply moved to meet Rabbi Dr Elisheva Salamo, recently appointed by the Liberal Jewish Community of York. She will serve as the first Rabbi in the city for 800 years.

In 2019 I was appointed as Bishop of Shrewsbury in the Church of England's Diocese of Lichfield. 

Since first joining CCJ in 1992, when an ordinand, and making my first visit of many to Israel and Palestine in that year (a CCJ Study Tour) I have been a study tour participant on three occasions, a student at Tantur Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem and at the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem. I was also privileged to undertake a research placement with Daniel Rossing during his time as Director of the Melitz Centre for Christian Encounter in Israel. 

I am honoured to have been a Trustee of CCJ for the past four years and am passionate about building interfaith engagement and understanding to challenge prejudice and persecution. Our need to build a stronger and more tolerant society, developing solidarity and working together to achieve shared goals, remains as important as ever. CCJ, as a long-established and trusted organisation is able to create and hold a space for encounter and dialogue which can bring transformation for individuals, communities and for our world.”