Julie Conalty

Julie Anne Conalty (born 1963) is a British Anglican bishop. Since 19 July 2021, she has been the Bishop of Birkenhead, one of two suffragan bishops of the Church of England Diocese of Chester.

Conalty trained for the ministry at the South East Institute for Theological Education; she was ordained deacon in 1999, and priest in 2000. She was at East Wickham from 1999 to 2004; and Charlton to 2010. After a curacy at Plumstead Common she was Vicar of Erith from 2012 until her appointment as Archdeacon. She was educated at Ormskirk Grammar School in Ormskirk, Lancashire: it was a grammar school which became a comprehensive school while she was there. She attended Cottage Lane Mission church and was a member of the youth group, before taking a Biblical Studies degree at the University of Sheffield. Although she felt called to ordained ministry as a teenager, women could not become priests in the Church of England at that time. In the 1990s, she finally trained for ordination on a part-time basis with the South East Institute of Theological Education.

In 2010, Conalty left her secular career and moved into full-time ministry, becoming associate priest of the Plumstead Common United Benefice.

Since April 2022, she has also been deputy lead bishop for safeguarding with a focus on survivor engagement.

Views In 2023, she was one of 44 Church of England bishops who signed an open letter supporting the use of the Prayers of Love and Faith (i.e. blessings for same-sex couples) and called for "Guidance being issued without delay that includes the removal of all restrictions on clergy entering same-sex civil marriages, and on bishops ordaining and licensing such clergy".

Conalty favours the disestablishment of the Church of England.

Personal life Conalty is married to Simon Malcolm, and they have two sons.