The Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich was founded in 1914 and includes the county of Suffolk, except for an area of North East Suffolk around Lowestoft, and one parish in the county of Essex. It serves about 631,000 people living in a geographical area of more than 1,400 square miles. The communities of the diocese are served by 443 parishes within 116 benefices and 18 deaneries. There are 478 church buildings of which 457 are listed. There are around 117 stipendiary clergy and 44 self-supporting ministers, some 150 Lay Licensed Ministers, including Readers and a few Licensed Lay Pastors and Local Evangelists and about 500 commissioned lay assistants (Lay Elders) in the parishes. There are 87 Church of England Schools in the diocese (42 Voluntary Controlled, 10 Voluntary Aided and 35 Academies). The Anglican churches across the diocese seek to develop close links with other Christian denominations and to build understanding with members of other faiths. The diocese also has close ties with churches across the world, most especially with the Diocese of Kagera in West Tanzania.
The Right Reverend Dr Joanne Woolway Grenfell
She was enthroned at the Cathedral on 24 January 2026, the 12th Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. Joanne trained for ordination at Westcott House in Cambridge and later served as Archdeacon in the Diocese of Portsmouth, Residentiary Canon and Director of Ordinands in the Diocese of Sheffield, and as an inner-city parish priest in Sheffield and Liverpool. In 2019 she became Bishop of Stepney, an area bishop in the Diocese of London and was lead bishop for safeguarding in the Church of England nationally. In 2025 she was appointed as Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich.
Vacant