The Reverend Canon Rosie Harper is a member of the General Synod of the Church of England and Chaplain to the Bishop of Buckingham. [1]
A vicar at Church of St Peter and St Paul, Great Missenden from 2003 until 2021, [2] Harper has been described by Telegraph journalist John Bingham as a "prominent liberal" within the Church. [3] An ordained priest in the Church of England since 1999, [4] Harper has supported the ordination of women in the Anglican Communion as priests and bishops. [5] [6] In 2014, she was described by BBC News as a "long-standing campaigner for the promotion of women in the Church". [7]
She has expressed support for a change in the canon law of the Church of England and revising of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 to allow same-sex marriage in the Church of England. [8] She has also voiced support for assisted dying, [9] [10] a minority opinion within the Church clergy. [11] She has also been critical of the Church turning away churchgoers (laypersons as well as clergy) wishing to pray or otherwise use church buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, when such buildings were closed to prevent the spread of the virus. [12] In 2023, she signed an interfaith statement condemning Islamophobia, antisemitism and Hinduphobia in the aftermath of the Gaza war. [13]
... Canon Rosie Harper, one of the few Church of England clergy openly to support assisted dying ...