The Archbishop of Canterbury has appointed the Rev. Jo Bailey Wells as his new chaplain, based at Lambeth Palace. Her primary focus will be for the spiritual life at Lambeth Palace and for supporting the Archbishop’s pastoral and liturgical ministry.
“Jo is an outstanding speaker, scholar and pastor, with a very wide experience of the Anglican world,” Archbishop Justin Welby said. “I am delighted that she has been agreed to come and work with me at Lambeth.”
“I am honored and delighted to be joining Archbishop Justin’s team at Lambeth as he takes on a heavy but exciting mantle,” Wells said. “I look forward to supporting him personally and pastorally — above all by praying for his flourishing in that role — and so to facilitating the wider flourishing of God’s people in God’s church.”
Wells was ordained in 1995. Her ministry thus far has focused on nurturing faith, mentoring vocations, teaching Old Testament, and training leadership — in Cambridge, in the United States and in South Sudan. Her previous positions include dean of Clare College Cambridge and most recently director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Duke Divinity School in North Carolina. She holds degrees from Cambridge, Minnesota, and Durham and has written two books: God’s Holy People (Sheffield, 2000) and Isaiah: A Devotional Commentary for Study and Preaching (Bible Reading Fellowship, 2006).
Image of Jo Bailey Wells from a video by Pillar Timpane
Jo Bailey Wells: On the Psalms of lament and resources for healing from Pilar Timpane on Vimeo.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
