New Bishop of Stockport – Bishop Libby Lane

So what was it about this appointment that made it news not just Locally, but Nationally and Internationally as well?

Well the person appointed as the 8th Bishop of Stockport was Rev Libby Lane and this was the first appointment of a woman as a Bishop in the Church of England.

I have known Rev Lane for a number of years in fact I have known her husband George even longer.  For the past number of years, George, a Reverend himself, has been part of the presentation team for our ‘Thought for the Week’ on Sunday Breakfast on BBC Radio Manchester.

A few years ago we were both working on the temporary Christian radio station, Refresh FM and I was producing his wonderful Hymn programme.

On one occasion I had to go to their house to collect some cds and that was the first time I met Libby.

On Sunday the 24 of November 2013, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Rev Libby Lane on Sunday Breakfast.

She has just been elected from the North West region to sit in the House of Bishops, and we had a long discussion about Women Bishops and whether they would ever be appointed.

When the announcement was made that Rev Libby Lane was going to be the first Woman Bishop in the Church of England we were determined to get an interview with her.

I am delighted to say that ours was the last major interview that Rev Lane did before she became Bishop Libby Lane.

The interview was widely shared across the BBC and even BBC Radio 5 Live used part of the interview during their live broadcast from York Minster to mark this historic appointment.

One of the questions we put to most of our interviewees is – How did you come to faith?

This has been turned into one of our favourite features on Sunday Breakfast on BBC Radio Manchester.

Although parts of this interview had been broadcast in a number of places, the full interview has not been aired anywhere to the best of my knowledge.

I am delighted to bring you my interview with Rev Libby Lane in full here on mikeshaft.com.