Our Team

Hon Vice Presidents


  • Hon Vice President

    Professor Nicola Slee is professorial research fellow at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham and Professor of Feminist Practical Theology at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.  She is a leading feminist practical theologian who has published widely in the fields of spirituality, prayer, women’s faith development and poetics.  She is planning to step down from her academic roles at the end of the current academic year, but intends to continue writing and leading occasional retreats as well as a ministry of spiritual direction.


  • Hon Vice President

    Sir Peter was a Member of Parliament for 49 years, for two different constituencies, including as Father of the House from 2019-2024.

    Sir Peter has served as a Trustree of Church of England Childrens’ Society, he also served on the Parliamentary Ecclesiastical committee.

    His wife, The Rt Hon Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, was the ninth woman in the Cabinet. Sir Peter is a WATCH supporter.


  • Hon Vice President

    Christina is a writer, broadcaster and a practical theologian but she is best known as a leading campaigner for women’s ordination in the Church of England. She was on General Synod for 25 years, from 1990 to 2015. When she joined, Synod was preparing for the vote on the ordination of women as priests and by the time she stepped down the Women Bishops Measure had been passed and the first woman bishop had been appointed.

    Christina was a spokesperson for the Movement of the Ordination of Women and was elected as the first Chair of National WATCH in 1996, a position she held until 2010.

    Not only was Christina an outspoken proponent of women’s ordination on General Synod, she spoke out on many other issues. In 1999 she was elected as a member of the new Archbishops’ Council and sat on many other national boards and committees. Christina contributed to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4 for 16 years and innumerable other radio and television programmes. She writes articles for newspapers, magazines and journals, speaks and preaches widely in the UK and abroad and has taken part in public debates. Her books include The Divine Embrace and Feast + Fast – Food for Lent and Easter. She edited Voices of this Calling – Experiences of the First Generation of Women Priests, co-edited with Professor Martyn Percy Apostolic Women, Apostolic Authority and has contributed chapters to a number of books including Letters to a Broken Church and Fearful Times; Living Faith.

    Christina has been a trustee of the Li Tim-Oi Foundation for many years and is now its first Director. She was ordained in 2022 and serves as Associate Priest in St Peter’s Church in Sheringham, Norfolk. She is an Honorary Fellow of Ripon College Cuddesdon and was awarded a CBE in 2015 for ‘services to the Church of England’.

Standing Committee


  • Chair

    Martine Oborne is the Area Dean of Hounslow and the Vicar of St Michael’s in Chiswick.  She was ordained in 2009, was involved in the campaign for women to be allowed to become bishops, and has been Chair of WATCH since October 2022.

    Martine was a founding trustee and School Governor of the St Mary Magdalene Academy in Holloway – a new C of E secondary school which opened in 2006.  She was involved with the school since its inception in 2003, helping to get this £38million new school funded, built and opened.

    Martine has written, illustrated and published children’s books and novels (by Macmillan, Random House and Piatkus Books.)


  • Vice Chair

    Kristin is American by birth and moved to London 25 years ago.  
    She was ordained in 2014 at St Paul’s Cathedral, up the hill from her former offices in the City, where she spent 19 years primarily in the HR space in NYC, London and Moscow.  Following ordination selection, Kristin was placed in an HTB plant in NW London, serving as ordinand, curate and Associate Vicar. Through the Leading Women programme and while applying for incumbency roles in London, she was confronted by the Church’s limits on full flourishing of so many vital members of the body of Christ.  Both the open and conservative evangelical wings have biases and exclusion that need to be called out and tackled.  

    Kristin now serves as an Associate on the clergy team at St Mary’s Bryanston Square, a charismatic church passionate about sharing the gospel and ministering power of the Holy Spirit alongside a commitment to inclusion.  She is passionate about WATCH and the issues we are tackling within the C of E.  


  • Vice Chair


  • Secretary

    Isobel was ordained in the Church of England  in 2005 after fifteen years as a solicitor, specialising in private client trusts and tax. For the last five of those years she was working in major commercial legal firms in Leeds and Manchester and had some exposure to large charities structured as trusts. As well as a professional legal qualification. Isobel has a Cambridge MA in Classics and Anglo-Saxon and a more recent  MA in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Leeds.  she is am married to the Director of Music of a large Anglo-Catholic church and has three children and eight grandchildren.

    Since ordination Isobel has served in parish ministry in a variety of contexts, both urban and rural, in Leeds, Chichester and Bath and Wells Dioceses. Until recently she had not held any Diocesan roles but for the last three years has served on the Finance, Assets and Investments Committee for the Diocese of Leeds.  She has now resigned from this committee to focus on my membership of WATCH.

    Isobel is passionate about the aims of Women and the Church because during her twenty years of ordained ministry she has been aware of harm being done to ordained women, and confusion being caused to congregations, by the provisions which exclude ordained women from various parts of the church and by lack of transparency about what the local position really is,

    On a recent occasion I had cause to read the Five Guiding Principles for the first time and it seems to me that they are both internally inconsistent and inherently discriminatory.      


  • Treasurer & Administrator

    Peggy is a retired priest, now living in the diocese of Winchester. She was ordained deacon in 1987 (Derby), and priest in 1994 (St Albans), one of the first cohort of women to be ordained in the Church of England. She went on to serve as a Team Rector, Area Dean and Dean of Women’s Ministry in Southwark Diocese, before moving to the Church in Wales 2009-2021, to be Archdeacon of Llandaff.

    From a prior career as a chartered accountant, as well as in ordained ministry, she has found a priority in encouraging women and girls to realise their God-given potential, and challenging injustices and abuse wherever these threaten to diminish. She is a former member of Richmond Borough Domestic Abuse Forum and trustee of Cardiff Women’s Aid.

    She was an active member of both MOW (Movement for the Ordination of Women) and WIT (Women in Theology), before coming to support WATCH from its earliest days – believing that the church has a vital role to play in transforming society, in offering safety, joy and hope to all, but especially women, so that they may truly flourish.

Trustees


  • Co-opted Trustee

    Georgia Ashwell is curate at St John’s Waterloo and has been ordained for two years.

    Since her ordination as priest in July 2023 she began to realise more so the inequality for women in the Church of England. As a result, Georgia joined Women and the Church to support their work. She is a new trustee of WATCH and is passionate about campaigning for greater equality for all genders in the Church.

    Georgia loves being outside, whether walking, cycling, or swimming. She especially enjoys being near on in the sea, scrambling up a mountain, and seeing friends.


  • Treasurer & Administrator

    Peggy is a retired priest, now living in the diocese of Winchester. She was ordained deacon in 1987 (Derby), and priest in 1994 (St Albans), one of the first cohort of women to be ordained in the Church of England. She went on to serve as a Team Rector, Area Dean and Dean of Women’s Ministry in Southwark Diocese, before moving to the Church in Wales 2009-2021, to be Archdeacon of Llandaff.

    From a prior career as a chartered accountant, as well as in ordained ministry, she has found a priority in encouraging women and girls to realise their God-given potential, and challenging injustices and abuse wherever these threaten to diminish. She is a former member of Richmond Borough Domestic Abuse Forum and trustee of Cardiff Women’s Aid.

    She was an active member of both MOW (Movement for the Ordination of Women) and WIT (Women in Theology), before coming to support WATCH from its earliest days – believing that the church has a vital role to play in transforming society, in offering safety, joy and hope to all, but especially women, so that they may truly flourish.


  • Vice Chair

    Kristin is American by birth and moved to London 25 years ago.  
    She was ordained in 2014 at St Paul’s Cathedral, up the hill from her former offices in the City, where she spent 19 years primarily in the HR space in NYC, London and Moscow.  Following ordination selection, Kristin was placed in an HTB plant in NW London, serving as ordinand, curate and Associate Vicar. Through the Leading Women programme and while applying for incumbency roles in London, she was confronted by the Church’s limits on full flourishing of so many vital members of the body of Christ.  Both the open and conservative evangelical wings have biases and exclusion that need to be called out and tackled.  

    Kristin now serves as an Associate on the clergy team at St Mary’s Bryanston Square, a charismatic church passionate about sharing the gospel and ministering power of the Holy Spirit alongside a commitment to inclusion.  She is passionate about WATCH and the issues we are tackling within the C of E.  


  • Trustee

  • Trustee

    Matthew grew up in South Africa within the life of the Anglican Church at a time of profound social and ecclesial change. He was baptised as an infant on Easter Day, and his faith was shaped early by three generations of committed Christian witness: a father ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and known for his advocacy of inclusion and pastoral justice; a mother who served as a lay minister; and a grandmother whose deep devotion and disciplined prayer life grounded his understanding of faith as something lived, not merely believed.

    Now based in London, Matt works in senior leadership within the media and communications industry, where his career has centred on culture, ethics, representation, and responsibility in public life. Alongside his professional work, he is actively discerning a call to ordained ministry in the Church of England and is currently in the formal discernment process, supported by his parish and diocese.

    Matt is passionate about the full flourishing of women in the life and leadership of the Church. His support for WATCH is rooted not only in theological conviction, but in lived experience of the Church at its best and its most limiting. He brings to WATCH a commitment to thoughtful advocacy, institutional accountability, and a belief that the Church is strongest when it honours the gifts God gives without partiality.

  • Michael is an associate priest at Lancaster Priory, a published author, and the priest behind the inclusive-language lectionary resource SSRA.UK. Ordained in 1991, he has served in ecumenical congregations in multi-purpose settings and in a busy four-parish rural benefice. He is a past trustee of Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and long-time supporter of Movement for the Ordination of Women, and struggles with the distinctive tensions of serving in Blackburn diocese


  • Secretary

    Isobel was ordained in the Church of England  in 2005 after fifteen years as a solicitor, specialising in private client trusts and tax. For the last five of those years she was working in major commercial legal firms in Leeds and Manchester and had some exposure to large charities structured as trusts. As well as a professional legal qualification. Isobel has a Cambridge MA in Classics and Anglo-Saxon and a more recent  MA in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Leeds.  she is am married to the Director of Music of a large Anglo-Catholic church and has three children and eight grandchildren.

    Since ordination Isobel has served in parish ministry in a variety of contexts, both urban and rural, in Leeds, Chichester and Bath and Wells Dioceses. Until recently she had not held any Diocesan roles but for the last three years has served on the Finance, Assets and Investments Committee for the Diocese of Leeds.  She has now resigned from this committee to focus on my membership of WATCH.

    Isobel is passionate about the aims of Women and the Church because during her twenty years of ordained ministry she has been aware of harm being done to ordained women, and confusion being caused to congregations, by the provisions which exclude ordained women from various parts of the church and by lack of transparency about what the local position really is,

    On a recent occasion I had cause to read the Five Guiding Principles for the first time and it seems to me that they are both internally inconsistent and inherently discriminatory.      

  • Vice Chair

  • Trustee

    Ruth is the Vicar of the wonderful parish of St Matthew Croydon in the Diocese of Southwark and part of the Inclusive Church network. She also has the privilege of being a chaplain at Archbishop Tenison’s Church of England Secondary School.

    Ruth’s job prior to ordination was the verger of the Parliamentary Chapel working with +Rose Hudson Wilkin who was then the Speaker’s Chaplain.

    She was part of the WATCH National Committee leading up to the vote in General Synod of July 2014. It was being part of this amazing group that gave her the extra confidence she needed to begin to explore the discernment process towards ordination. Ruth was Deaconed in June 2019 and Priested in October 2020, delayed slightly because of COVID.

    One of the key parts of her vocation and calling has been her belief in equality and inclusion. All are created in the image of God, precious and loved and each uniquely called. Ruth am committed to playing her part to ensure that this is the case for those today and for those in the future.

    In her free time Ruth swims regularly and has raised money over the past few years for Diabetes UK with their Swim22 challenges.

  • Trustee

    Revd Yvonne, a WATCH member, began Ministry as a Church Army Evangelist, Deaconess, first Black woman Deacon in the CofE, priested 1994 and loves my Ministry in the CofE.

    At the core of her very strong faith is to fight injustice and empower women to be strong authentic leaders, always to be true to who they are and never give up one's integrity. Yvonne is glamorous, a pioneer and has a radiant personality.

    Yvonne loves to exercise, doing boxing and learning the technique, good for cardio and tones the body. She also enjoys playing badminton, Yoga, Pilates and especially practicing Tai Chi which is very good for the mind and inner self.


  • Chair

    Martine Oborne is the Area Dean of Hounslow and the Vicar of St Michael’s in Chiswick.  She was ordained in 2009, was involved in the campaign for women to be allowed to become bishops, and has been Chair of WATCH since October 2022.

    Martine was a founding trustee and School Governor of the St Mary Magdalene Academy in Holloway – a new C of E secondary school which opened in 2006.  She was involved with the school since its inception in 2003, helping to get this £38million new school funded, built and opened.

    Martine has written, illustrated and published children’s books and novels (by Macmillan, Random House and Piatkus Books.)

  • Trustee

    Mary was ordained to the priesthood in 2018 and is currently the Chaplain of King’s College Cambridge, after a curacy spent in a parish in Hampshire.

    She has been on the Executive Committee of WATCH since 2019 and is the lead on inclusive liturgy, a central passion of hers.

    Mary greatly enjoys leading Liturgy Online and liturgy writing workshops and is currently working on a guide on crafting inclusive liturgy, for Canterbury Press.


  • Trustee