{{Short description|Anglican priest and poet}} {{Use British English|date=June 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Priest | honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|Ven|size=100%}} | name = Rachel Mann | honorific-suffix = | title = Archdeacon of Bolton and of Salford | image = Rachel Mann and Candle Stand (cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | church = | diocese = Diocese of Manchester | term = 2023–present | predecessor = | successor = | other_post = | previous_post = Area Dean of Bury and Rossendale (2021–2023) <!---------- Orders ----------> | ordination = 2005 (deacon)<br />2006 (priest) | ordained_by = | consecration = | consecrated_by = <!---------- Personal details ----------> | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1970|02|27}} | birth_place = <!-- City, administrative region, sovereign state (per Template:Infobox person) --> | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = <!-- as birth_place --> | buried = <!-- or | tomb = --> | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | religion = Anglicanism | residence = | parents = | spouse = <!-- or | partner = --> | children = | occupation = | profession = {{hlist|Priest|author}} | education = | alma_mater = {{Nowrap|Lancaster University <br/> Queen's College, Birmingham <br /> Manchester Metropolitan University}} }} '''Rachel Mann''' (born 1970) is a British Anglican priest, poet and feminist theologian.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://faithinfeminism.com/can-a-feminist-be-religious-and-lgbtqi/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020004539/http://faithinfeminism.com/can-a-feminist-be-religious-and-lgbtqi/ | archive-date=20 October 2013 | title=Meet Rachel: A trans-woman, gay, feminist priest | Faith in Feminism }}</ref> She is a trans woman who writes, speaks and broadcasts on a wide range of topics including gender, sexuality and religion.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ripassetseu.s3.amazonaws.com/www.lgf.org.uk/_files/documents/may_13/FENT__1369834505_onw116-news.pdf |title=Rachel Mann interviewed in OutNorthWest Magazine June/July 2013 |access-date=6 April 2014 |archive-date=3 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503073620/http://ripassetseu.s3.amazonaws.com/www.lgf.org.uk/_files/documents/may_13/FENT__1369834505_onw116-news.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> She has served as Archdeacon of Bolton and of Salford (in the Diocese of Manchester) since 2023.
==Early life and education== Mann was born in 1970.<ref name="Crockford entry" /> She grew up in Worcestershire, in the village of Hartlebury, and attended Stourport-on-Severn High School.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stanford |first=Peter |date=3 December 2020 |title=Rachel Mann: 'I was only able to find God after I had transitioned' |url=https://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/19072/rachel-mann-i-was-only-able-to-find-god-after-i-had-transitioned- |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=The Tablet |language=en}}</ref> Between 1988 and 1991, she studied philosophy at Lancaster University and completed an M.A. at the same university from 1992 to 1993. She studied for a PhD in philosophy at Lancaster and was a teaching fellow from 1994 to 1996.
<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stanford |first=Peter |date=2020-12-15 |title=Rachel Mann: 'I'm self-evidently a woman – but I'm glad I was once a man' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/rachel-mann-self-evidently-woman-imglad-man/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> From 2003 to 2005, she trained for ordained ministry at Queen's College, Birmingham, an ecumenical theological college.<ref name="Crockford entry" /> She holds an M.A. in creative writing from Manchester Writing School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rachel Mann {{!}} Our Writers and Experts {{!}} Manchester Writing School |url=https://www.manchesterwritingschool.co.uk/writers/rachel-mann |access-date=2024-01-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628233557/https://www.manchesterwritingschool.co.uk/writers/rachel-mann |archive-date=28 June 2018 }}</ref> and she undertook postgraduate studies in the Bible and 19th-century literature at Manchester Metropolitan University.<ref name="synod bio" /> Her doctoral thesis was titled "The representation of fecundity and barrenness in the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, and the Bible: a critical and creative interrogation of a Christian-feminist poetics", and was completed in 2017.<ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=The representation of fecundity and barrenness in the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, and the Bible: a critical and creative interrogation of a Christian-feminist poetics|url=http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.728278|website=E-Thesis Online Service|publisher=The British Library Board|date=2017|type=Ph.D}}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Ordained ministry== Mann was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2005 and as a priest in 2006.<ref name="Crockford entry" /> She served her curacy at St Matthew's Church, Stretford in the Diocese of Manchester.<ref name="Crockford entry" /> Between 2008 and 2017, she was Priest-in-Charge at the Church of St Nicholas, Burnage, before being appointed its Rector in 2018.<ref name="Crockford entry">{{Crockford| surname = Mann | forenames = Rachel | id = 1270| accessed = 23 June 2018}}</ref> Between 2009 and 2017, she was also Resident Poet at Manchester Cathedral. In 2017, she was made an honorary canon of Manchester Cathedral.<ref name="Crockford entry" /> Between February 2018 and the end of its extended quinquennium in July 2021, she was a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, having been elected by the clergy of the Diocese of Manchester.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rachel Mann elected to General Synod|url=https://www.manchester.anglican.org/news/2018/02/09/rachel-mann-elected-general-synod/|website=Diocese of Manchester|accessdate=26 March 2018|date=9 February 2018|archive-date=26 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326142028/https://www.manchester.anglican.org/news/2018/02/09/rachel-mann-elected-general-synod/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In June 2021, she left St Nicholas Burnage to become full-time Area Dean of Bury and Rossendale.<ref>{{cite web|title=Seven Full-Time Area Deans Appointed|url=https://manchester.anglican.org/news/latest-news/full-time-area-deans.php|website=Diocese of Manchester|accessdate=23 July 2021|date=26 February 2021|archive-date=23 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723191254/https://manchester.anglican.org/news/latest-news/full-time-area-deans.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the elections for the 2021-2026 Quinquennium, Mann was re-elected as a member of the Church of England's General Synod for Manchester.<ref>{{cite web|title=General Synod Election Results|url=https://manchester.anglican.org/news/latest-news/general-synod-election-results.php|website=Diocese of Manchester|accessdate=12 February 2022|date=14 October 2021|archive-date=12 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212161647/https://manchester.anglican.org/news/latest-news/general-synod-election-results.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 12 June 2023, she was announced as the next Archdeacon of Bolton and of Salford;<ref>{{cite web |title=Archdeacon of Bolton and Salford announced |url=https://www.manchester.anglican.org/archdeacon-of-bolton-and-salford-announced.php |website=Diocese of Manchester |access-date=17 June 2023 |date=12 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230615125031/https://www.manchester.anglican.org/archdeacon-of-bolton-and-salford-announced.php |archive-date=15 June 2023 }}</ref> she was duly collated to those archdeaconries (in plurality) on 4 July.<ref>{{cite web |website=Diocese of Manchester |title=Rachel Mann — Notice of Appointment |url=https://www.manchester.anglican.org/the-revd-canon-dr-rachel-mann--notice-of-appointment.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230714105205/https://www.manchester.anglican.org/the-revd-canon-dr-rachel-mann--notice-of-appointment.php |archive-date=14 July 2023 |access-date=14 July 2023 }}</ref>
===Views=== Mann belongs to the liberal Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England, though she was brought up an Evangelical-Charismatic Christian. She supports the full inclusion of the LGBT people in the church.<ref name="synod bio">{{cite web|title=Candidate: Rev'd Canon Dr Rachel Mann|url=https://cofemanchester.contentfiles.net/media/documents/document/2018/01/Rachel_Mann.pdf|website=Diocese of Manchester|access-date=26 March 2018|date=January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326202342/https://cofemanchester.contentfiles.net/media/documents/document/2018/01/Rachel_Mann.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2018}}</ref> Between 2020 and 2024, Mann was a patron of the Open Table Network, an ecumenical Christian charity supporting worship communities for LGBT people and their allies.<ref>{{Cite web|date=19 November 2020|title=Meet Our Patrons - Rachel Mann in conversation with Alex Clare-Young|url=https://opentable.lgbt/our-events/2021/11/19meet-our-patrons-bishop-rachel-mann-in-conversation-with-alex-clare-young|access-date=18 April 2021|website=Open Table Network}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=29 November 2024|title=‘Dazzling Darkness’ author steps down after four years as OTN Patron|url=https://opentable.lgbt/our-news/2024/11/29/otn-patron-steps-down-after-four-years|access-date=7 August 2025|website=Open Table Network}}</ref>
On 5th February 2026 it was announced that she will be retiring from her role on 31st July 2026. This is on medical grounds following a long period of ill health and several major surgical operations.
==Author== She is the author of ''Dazzling Darkness: Gender, Sexuality, Illness & God'' (Glasgow: Wild Goose 2012) and ''The Risen Dust: Poems and Stories of Passion & Resurrection'' (Glasgow: Wild Goose 2013), both published by the publishing arm of the Iona Community. Mann is also a contributor to ''Fear and Friendship: Anglicans Engaging With Islam'' (Continuum 2012) and several books on liturgical theology, including ''Presiding Like a Woman'' (SPCK 2010). Her book about the First World War and Ritual, ''Fierce Imaginings: The Great War, Ritual, Memory & God'' (London: D.L.T. 2017) was shortlisted for the 2019 Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing.
In 2018, she was appointed Visiting Teaching Fellow in Creative Writing and English at the Manchester Writing School, Manchester Metropolitan University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.manchesterwritingschool.co.uk/writers/rachel-mann|title=Rachel Mann | Our Writers and Experts | Manchester Writing School|access-date=1 January 2020|archive-date=1 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101111234/http://www.manchesterwritingschool.co.uk/writers/rachel-mann|url-status=dead}}</ref> She is also a visiting scholar at Sarum College.<ref>{{Cite web |title=People at Sarum College: Rachel Mann | Sarum College, Christian Education and Conference Venue in Salisbury, England |url=https://www.sarum.ac.uk/college-community/staff/visiting-scholars/rachel-mann |access-date=10 January 2024 |website=sarum.ac.uk}}</ref>
In 2019, Carcanet published her debut full poetry collection, ''A Kingdom of Love''. The collection was Highly Commended in the 2020 Forward Prizes for Poetry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forward Book of Poetry |url=https://www.forwardartsfoundation.org/forward-prizes-for-poetry/forward-book-of-poetry/ |access-date=10 January 2024 |website=Forward Arts Foundation |archive-date=8 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208021510/https://www.forwardartsfoundation.org/forward-prizes-for-poetry/forward-book-of-poetry/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2020, her debut novel, ‘<nowiki>'The Gospel of Eve''</nowiki>, was published by D.L.T.
In 2024, Mann's second collection, ''Eleanor Among the Saints'' was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize.<ref>{{Cite web |title=T.S. Eliot Shortlist 2024 Announced |url=https://poetrysociety.org.uk/news/t-s-eliot-shortlist-2024-announced/ |access-date=18 October 2024 |website=Poetry Society}}</ref>
Mann is a regular contributor to ''Church Times'' and contributes to BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought and BBC Radio 4's ''Thought for the Day'', ''The Daily Service'' and ''Prayer for the Day''. She also writes about progressive music, metal and folk for ''Prog'', an offshoot of ''Classic Rock'', and ''The Quietus''.
In the 2024 series of ''Christmas University Challenge'' on BBC2, Mann represented Manchester Metropolitan University and returned in the 2025 series to represent Lancaster University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blanchflower.org/uc/results_christmas.html|title=Christmas University Challenge|publisher=blanchflower.org}}</ref>
== Awards and honours == *The International Michael Ramsey Prize for Theological Writing, 'Shortlisted' (2019) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.michaelramseyprize.org.uk/books/|title=Books Archive|website=Michael Ramsey Prize|accessdate=10 January 2024}}</ref> *Lancaster University ‘Outstanding Alumni Award' (2023) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/news/alumni-awards-for-outstanding-former-lancaster-students/|title=Alumni Awards for outstanding former Lancaster students|website=Lancaster University|accessdate=10 January 2024}}</ref> *The Poetry Book Society 'Spring 2024 PBS Recommendation' (2024) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781800173811/|title=Carcanet Press|website=www.carcanet.co.uk|access-date=22 December 2023|archive-date=22 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231222090409/https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781800173811/|url-status=dead}}</ref> *T. S. Eliot Prize (shortlisted) for ''Eleanor Among the Saints'' (2024) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.carcanet.co.uk/np56.shtml/|title=Carcanet Press|website=www.carcanet.co.uk|accessdate=18 October 2024}}</ref> *The Archbishop of York's Advent Book 2024 for ''Do Not Be Afraid'' (2024) <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/latest-news/archbishop-yorks-advent-book-2024|title=Archbishop of York|website=www.archbishopofyork.org|accessdate=24 July 2025}}</ref> *Award of Merit, The Associated Church Press Awards 2024 for ''Festival of the Child'', The Christian Century <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EFaN9UdG28oWb9B7srhecaz0HtIHj6Rj/view?pli=1|page=148|title=ACP Awards|website=www.theacp.org/awards|accessdate=24 July 2025}}</ref>
==Selected works== *{{cite book|author1=Mann, Rachel|editor1-last=Slee|editor1-first=Nicola|editor2-last=Burns|editor2-first=Stephen|title=Presiding like a Woman: Feminist Gestures for Christian Assemblies|date=2010|publisher=SPCK Publishing|location=London|isbn=978-0281061860|pages=133–139|chapter=Presiding from the broken middle}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Dazzling Darkness: Gender, Sexuality, Illness & God|date=2012|publisher=Wild Goose Publications|location=Glasgow|isbn=978-1849522410}} *{{cite book|author1=Mann, Rachel|editor1-last=Ward|editor1-first=Frances|editor2-last=Coakley|editor2-first=Sarah|title=Fear and friendship: Anglicans engaging with Islam|date=2012|publisher=Continuum|location=London|isbn=978-1441101495|chapter=The importance of offence: satire, the Church of England and Islam|pages=91–104}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=The Risen Dust: Poems and Stories of Passion & Resurrection|date=2013|publisher=Wild Goose Publications|location=Glasgow|isbn=978-1849522793}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=A Star-Filled Grace: Worship and Prayer Resources for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany|date=2015|publisher=Wild Goose Publications|location=Glasgow|isbn=978-1849524421}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Fierce Imaginings: The Great War, Ritual, Memory and God|date=2017|publisher=Darton, Longman & Todd|location=London|isbn=9780232532784}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=From Now On: A Lent Course on Hope and Redemption in The Greatest Showman|date=2018|publisher=Darton, Longman & Todd|location=London|isbn=9780232533927}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=In The Bleak Midwinter: Advent and Christmas with Christina Rossetti|date=2019|publisher=Canterbury Press|location=London|isbn=9781786221629}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=A Kingdom Of Love|date=2019|publisher=Carcanet|location=Manchester|isbn=9781784108571}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Christina Rossetti: New Selected Poems|date=2020|publisher=Carcanet|location=Manchester|isbn=9781784109066}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Still Standing: A Lent Course Based on Rocketman|date=2020|publisher=Darton, Longman & Todd|location=London|isbn= 9780232534917}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Love's Mysteries: The Body, Grief, Precariousness and God|date=2020|publisher=Canterbury Press|location=London|isbn= 9781786222817}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=The Gospel of Eve|date=2020|publisher=Darton, Longman & Todd|location=London|isbn=9780232534603}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Spectres of God|date=2021|publisher=Darton, Longman & Todd|location=London|isbn= 9781913657529}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=A Truth Universally Acknowledged:40 Days with Jane Austen|date=2023|publisher=Canterbury Press|location=London|isbn= 9781786225030}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Eleanor Among the Saints|date=2024|publisher=Carcanet|location=Manchester|isbn= 9781800173811}} *{{cite book|last1=Mann|first1=Rachel|title=Do Not Be Afraid: The Joy of Waiting in a Time of Fear|date=2024|publisher=SPCK|location=London|isbn= 9780281090013}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://rachelmann.co.uk/ Personal website]
{{authority control}} {{Archdeacons of Bolton}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Rachel}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century English Anglican priests Category:Transgender women writers Category:Transgender poets Category:English transgender women Category:English transgender writers Category:LGBTQ Anglican clergy Category:21st-century English poets Category:British feminist writers Category:21st-century English theologians Category:English women poets Category:English LGBTQ poets Category:English Anglican theologians Category:Christian feminist theologians Category:Anglican poets Category:21st-century English women writers Category:English Anglo-Catholics Category:Anglo-Catholic clergy Category:Alumni of the Queen's Foundation Category:Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University Category:Alumni of Lancaster University Category:Members of the General Synod of the Church of England Category:Archdeacons of Salford Category:Archdeacons of Bolton Category:21st-century British women poets