Dianna Gwilliams

Gwilliams was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1992 and as a priest in 1994.^[10] From 1992 to 1997, she was a non-stipendiary minister and assistant curate at St Saviour's Church, Peckham, known locally as the Copleston Church, in the Diocese of Southwark.^[11] She then moved into full-time ministry and became an assistant curate at St Barnabas' Church, Dulwich.^[5] In 1999, she was appointed vicar of St Barnabas' Church and chaplain of Christ's Chapel of God's Gift.^[9] She was additionally area dean of Dulwich from 2005 to 2012 and dean of women's ministry for the Diocese of Southwark from 2009 to 2012.^[9] In 2006, she was made an honorary canon of Southwark Cathedral.^[9] From 2007 to 2011, she was also priest-in-charge of Copleston Church, where she had started her ministry.^[9]

In April 2013, it was announced that Gwilliams had been appointed the next Dean of Guildford.^[12] She was installed as dean at Guildford Cathedral on 15 September 2013.^[13] She was the first female Dean of Guildford and, in 2013, was one of the most senior female priests in the Church of England, alongside five other female deans.^[3] She retired as dean in September 2023, after ten years in the role; her final service was evensong on 17 September.^[14]

She was chair of Inclusive Church^[15] from 2012^[16] until 2022;^[17] an organisation that educates on full inclusion of every person in the church regardless of "disability, economic power, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, learning disability, mental health, neurodiversity, or sexuality".^[18]

She has three children (including a daughter who died in infancy), five grandchildren and her husband is a stonemason. She is a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey.^[19]