Christine Wilson
Quick Facts
Biography
Christine Louise Wilson (née Bravery; born 26 March 1958) is a British Church of England priest. She has been Dean of Lincoln since 2016. She had previously served as the Archdeacon of Chesterfield from 2010 to 2016. As of 14 April 2019 she is taking leave of absence from the cathedral.
Early life and education
Wilson was born Christine Louise Bravery on 26 March 1958 in Brighton, Sussex, England. She was educated at Margaret Hardy Secondary Modern, then an all-girls secondary school in Brighton. She trained for ordination on the Southern Dioceses Ministerial Training Scheme, completing a Diploma in Theology (DipTh) in 1994.
Ordained ministry
Wilson was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1997 and as a priest in 1998. From 1997 to 2002, she served her curacy at St Peter's Church, Henfield in the Diocese of Chichester. She was team vicar of Hove from 2002 until 2008; and then vicar of Goring-by-Sea until her appointment as archdeacon.
On 27 May 2016, Wilson was announced as the next Dean of Lincoln. She was installed on dean on 22 October 2016.
Wilson has been Senior Independent Director for Ecclesiastical Insurance since November 2017, having been on the board since 2012 when she was Archdeacon of Chesterfield. Commenting on her appointment, Wilson said “Ecclesiastical has enjoyed a long relationship with the Church of England and I am pleased to be able to continue this association.” Ecclesiastical received criticism from three Church of England bishops in 2017 over its "horse trade" methods in settlements of clerical abuse cases.
In April 2018, Wilson publicly apologised to victims and survivors of child sex abuse by a former deputy head teacher at Lincoln Cathedral School. She acknowledged that some of the survivors had waited nearly fifty years for justice. The case was triggered by a new diocesan safeguarding officer carrying out a review of historic cases, which led to police setting up Operation Redstone in 2015.
In April 2019, Lincoln Cathedral announced on Palm Sunday that Wilson and the chancellor, the Reverend Canon Paul Overend were stepping aside from their respective cathedral roles. It was later reported that the leave of absence for both was in connection with a safeguarding issue relating to vulnerable adults. A Church of England spokeswoman confirmed: "A non-recent safeguarding matter reported in the diocese of Lincoln is being investigated. All appropriate information has been passed on to the police and statutory authorities. Until their processes have been completed, nothing further can be said publicly. The National Safeguarding Team has convened a core group, and will continue to pursue all relevant matters." An investigation is being conducted by police outside of Lincolnshire, as the matter concerned a report from elsewhere in the country.