Joseph Kennedy

Joseph Kennedy (born 1969) is a Scottish Anglican bishop and academic. Since 2024, he has been Bishop of Burnley, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Blackburn. Having served in parish ministry in the Church of England and as a chaplain to two Cambridge University colleges, he was Principal of the College of the Resurrection from 2008 to 2011. He then served as vicar of St Saviour's Church, Oxton in the Diocese of Chester until his elevation to the episcopate.

Early life and education Kennedy was born in 1969 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He studied mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1991. He remained at Edinburgh to study theology, and graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree in 1994.

Career Kennedy was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2002 and as a priest in 2003. On 19 July 2024, he was consecrated as a bishop by Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, during a service at York Minster. The co-consecrators were Pete Wilcox, Bishop of Sheffield, and Helen-Ann Hartley, Bishop of Newcastle. He will then be welcomed into his new diocese during a service at Blackburn Cathedral on 8 September 2024. Together, they have two children.