Judith Karen French is a British retired Anglican priest.
19 Facts About Judy French
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Judy French served as a parish deacon in the Diocese of Portsmouth, and as an assistant curate in the Diocese of Coventry.
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Judy French was a Vicar in the Diocese of Oxford from 1997 until her appointment as Archdeacon; during this incumbency, she served as Area Dean of Chipping Norton.
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Judy French was born on 18 November 1960 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.
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Judy French spent her childhood living in England, Kenya and the Middle East, as the family moved during her father's career as a telecom engineer.
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Judy French was educated at an English "boarding school that was originally set up for the daughters of United Reformed Church ministers".
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Judy French was confirmed at the age of 14, having attended the church near her grandparents' home in Portsmouth for preparation.
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Judy French became a member of the church she was confirmed at which was a "middle of the road church with an Anglo-Catholic vicar".
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Judy French joined its parochial church council at the age of 19.
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Judy French felt the call to ordination while at university.
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Judy French graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1989.
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Judy French was selected for ordination in the Church of England, and matriculated into St Stephen's House, Oxford, an Anglo-Catholic theological college, in 1989.
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Judy French was one of only two women in her year, but became the only woman when the other left shortly after starting her studies.
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Judy French was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1991.
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Judy French was ordained as a priest in 1994, the first year that woman were ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England, during a service at Coventry Cathedral.
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In 1997, Judy French was appointed Vicar of St Mary the Virgin, Charlbury in the Diocese of Oxford; this made her the first female incumbent in the Dorchester Episcopal Area.
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Judy French was Area Dean of Chipping Norton between 2007 and 2012.
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Judy French was made an Honorary Canon of Christ Church Cathedral in 2012.
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Judy French retired effective 30 September 2022, after eight years as archdeacon.