Leah Vasey-Saunders
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = priest
| honorific_prefix = The Reverend
| name = Leah Vasey-Saunders
| honorific_suffix =
| title = Vicar of Lancaster Priory
| image = Post ordination group photo on steps of York Minster (Vasey-Saunders cropped).jpg
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption = Vasey-Saunders in 2025
| church = Church of England
| province =
| diocese = Diocese of Blackburn
| term = 2021 to present
| predecessor =
| successor =
| other_post = Bishop-designate of Doncaster (2025)
| previous_post =
| ordination = 2003 (deacon)
2004 (priest)
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1977}}
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| nationality =
| religion = Anglicanism
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| alma_mater = University of Huddersfield
St John's College, Durham
Cranmer Hall, Durham
}}
Leah Vasey-Saunders (born 1977) is a British Anglican priest. Since 2021, she has served as the vicar of Lancaster Priory. She was announced as the next Bishop of Doncaster in May 2025.{{cite web |website=Diocese of Sheffield| title=Leah Vasey-Saunders Announced as the Next Bishop of Doncaster |url=https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/the-revd-leah-vasey-saunders-announced-as-the-next-bishop-of-doncaster/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250530025427/https://www.sheffield.anglican.org/the-revd-leah-vasey-saunders-announced-as-the-next-bishop-of-doncaster/ |archive-date=30 May 2025 |access-date=23 June 2025 }}
Early life and education
Leah was born in 1977.{{Crockford| surname = Vasey-Saunders | forenames = Leah Beverley | id = 361 | accessed = 9 July 2025}} She studied music at the University of Huddersfield, graduating with a Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree in 1998. She trained for ordained ministry at Cranmer Hall, Durham, during which she studied theology at St John's College, Durham and graduated from the University of Durham with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 2003.
Ordained ministry
File:Leah Vasey-Saunders preaching York Minster (cropped).jpg, 2025]]
She was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2003; and as a priest in 2004. She served her title at St John the Evangelist, Whorlton.{{cite web |website=A church near you| title=St John, Whorton |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/16256/ |access-date=23 June 2025 }} She served a further curacy at St George, Newcastle upon Tyne.
From 2008 to 2010 she was team vicar of St John's Heath Hayes, then part of the Cannock Team Ministry and concurrently curate of St Peter, Hednesford. She became the first vicar of the new parish of St John, Heath Hayes in 2010. From 2013 she was Priest-in-Charge of All Saints, Harworth and Bircotes. From 2016 to 2021 she was Canon Precentor of Wakefield Cathedral.{{cite news |last1=Braddick |first1=Amelia |title=Next Bishop of Doncaster ‘with a heart for the north’ announced |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/30-may/news/uk/new-bishop-of-doncaster-with-a-heart-for-the-north-announced |access-date=9 July 2025 |work=Church Times |date=29 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250604195506/https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/30-may/news/uk/new-bishop-of-doncaster-with-a-heart-for-the-north-announced |archive-date=4 June 2025}}
In addition to her parish ministry, she is chair of On Fire Mission, a network "promoting charismatic and Catholic renewal" within the Church of England.{{cite web |title=The Revd Leah Vasey-Saunders announced as the next Bishop of Doncaster |url=https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-news/revd-leah-vasey-saunders-announced-next-bishop-doncaster |website=The Archbishop of York |access-date=9 July 2025 |language=en |date=29 June 2025}}
=Episcopal ministry=
On 29 May 2025, it was announced that Vasey Saunders would be the next Bishop of Doncaster, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Sheffield.{{cite web |title=Suffragan Bishop of Doncaster: 29 May 2025 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/appointment-of-suffragan-bishop-of-doncaster-29-may-2025 |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom |accessdate=23 June 2025}} She is due to be consecrated on 16 September 2025.
Personal life
A keen musician,{{cite web |website=BBC| title=Musical mum named as next bishop of Doncaster |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yqdlxxv0do |access-date=24 June 2025 }} she is married to the Revd Dr Mark Vasey-Saunders:{{cite web |website=St Hild| title=About Mark |url=https://sthild.org/mark-vasey-saunders |access-date=24 June 2025 }} they have four children.{{cite web |website=Archbishop of York| title=The Revd Leah Vasey-Saunders announced as the next Bishop of Doncaster |url=https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-news/revd-leah-vasey-saunders-announced-next-bishop-doncaster |access-date=24 June 2025 }}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Bishops of Doncaster}}
{{Diocese of Sheffield}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasey_Saunders, Leah}}
Category:21st-century English Anglican priests
Category:Women Anglican bishops
Category:Alumni of the University of Huddersfield
Category:Alumni of St John's College, Durham
Category:Alumni of Cranmer Hall, Durham
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