Chiswick vicar retires but will still be fighting for women’s rights in the Church

Rev. Martine Oborne

Reverend Martine Oborne will say goodbye to her congregation at St Michael’s Church, Elmwood Road, but continues to be a campaigner

After many years of supporting her parishioners through the highs and lows of life – births, deaths and all the existential crises in between – Rev’d Martine Oborne, the vicar of St Michael’s, Elmwood Road, and Area Dean of Hounslow is retiring at the end of September.

It will come as a surprise to some because Martine has been vicar here for many years and loves her church and community. She has, however, never shied from a battle – even if it’s difficult – and is known for campaigning for equality for female clergy through Women and the Church (WATCH), where she’s been chair for four years, and more recently for her concerns over the recruitment process of the Bishop of London.

READ MORE: Chiswick vicar demands that the next Bishop of London accepts female clergy

To lose someone with so much passion for fighting against gender inequality is a terrible blow for W4, so The Chiswick Calendar hotfooted it to catch up with the outspoken vicar to ask her about her big decision.

“I’m retiring now because I’m in my late sixties and I’ve been at St Michael’s for 15 years, so it’s time they take a break from me!” she says modestly.

Sitting in her vibrant yellow living room, surrounded by artworks including an oil portrait of herself and her husband, the journalist Peter Oborne, Martine looks much younger than your average retiree.

In her retirement, Martine will embrace new challenges as a campaigner and a writer 

More time with the family

She is dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, and waiting for her youngest child, aged 22, to return home from a trip abroad. It’s easy to understand that after so much devoted service to other families she could crave more time with her own.

“I’ve got five children,” she says. “They’re all grown up now – only the youngest is still living here – and of course I’d love to spend more time with them.”

Three of her brood are daughters (and she also has two daughters-in-law), so when I hear her speak about the gender injustice in the world – poor maternity care, women trafficked, aborted female foetuses – I can hear the dismay in her voice and it’s very visceral.

But Martine is not abandoning the institution she has fought so hard to improve or her campaign for equality. The fight, for her, continues. If anything, it is escalating!

Once a priest always a priest

“First, I will still have permission to officiate and can take services in London – at St Martin’s in the Field, for example – if I am asked to.”

“Also, I’m going to stand for General Synod.”

This second piece of news is significant because it is the General Synod – composed of three houses – that is the legislative body of The Church of England and where all the decisions are made.

Martine Oborne at Waterstones, a key supporter of the Chiswick Book Festival

Speaking out for the community

For Martine, the election is a once-in-five-year opportunity to speak for her community and the diocese at a national level. If elected on 13 October, she would be one of 11 members of clergy representing London and would have to attend meetings for the next five years on an unpaid basis.

“It’s important to be in the room,” explains Martine. “Yes, I’ve been chair of Women and the Church for which I’ve written articles, campaigned and signed petitions, but the synod is what matters.”

Standing up for what you believe

“I’m probably too outspoken for most people’s tastes,” she says, “but I’ll stand as a candidate and see. I’ve been very forthright in my election statement.

“I feel it’s wrong that we don’t have full equality for women in the Church. It has changed a lot in 30 years, but the Church should be taking more of a lead on gender injustice.”

Whilst it’s not unusual that an experienced priest might stand for General Synod, it is perhaps a little surprising that they also express their ideas in a satirical work of fiction. In interesting timing, Martine is launching a novel, just as her peers are voting on her, that gently bashes the institution they all serve.

The Trials of Jessica Lovegood will be on the shelves at Waterstones

Publishing a new book – ‘The Trials of Jessica Lovegood’

The Trials of Jessica Lovegood is described as “funny, moving and sharply observed” and is about a vicar whose boss doesn’t believe that women should be priests.

READ ALSO: The Trials of Jessica Lovegood – new book by Rev. Martine Oborne

READ ALSO: Lineup of authors announced for Chiswick Book Festival 2026 Local Authors Showcase

“I’m going to launch it at the Chiswick Book Festival and I’ve got a slot on 9 September at the George IV pub, where I’ve got two minutes to pitch my book to the audience,” explains Martine.

Always sold out in advance, the Local Authors Showcase is a much-loved event of the festival and gives Chiswick-based authors the chance to do an elevator pitch to a packed-out Boston Room where they are hilariously hooted off stage if they go over their allotted time.

Bringing humour to the fight

As a vicar who is accustomed to public speaking, Martine is up for this challenge, and we had quite a laugh when she told me about her novel and its strong premise.

“Jessica Lovegood is a vicar – not in Chiswick – but in Wishmoor, an old mining town in the north of England.”

Asked whether her own experience helped her create fully realized characters, she replied that “there are always archetypes everywhere, but I didn’t want to set my story in Chiswick, so it’s definitely not my own church.”

The congregation of St Michael’s, Elmwood Road, can breathe a sigh of relief (or even disappointment), and although Martine maintains her book is not autobiographical, there are themes that will resonate with anyone who knows of her work.

In addition to the Local Authors Showcase at the Chiswick Book Festival, you can also join Martine at her online event on 24 September from 7-8pm where she will be in conversation with Christina Rees CBE. Copies of The Trials of Jessica Lovegood will be available at Waterstones and the independent shop Bookcase in Chiswick High Road and on Amazon.