Bishop Karen holds a BA from the University of Bristol and trained for the ministry at Trinity College, Bristol. Prior to ordination she worked as an administrator with BTEC and the Royal Society of Arts and as a Pastoral Assistant in Essex and Hull.

She served her title at Northallerton with Kirby Sigston in the Diocese of York from 1995 to 1999. She was ordained priest in 1996 and in 1999 went on to become Priest-in-Charge of St Paul’s, Maidstone in the Diocese of Canterbury. During this time, she was also Assistant Director of Ordinands and Area Dean of Maidstone. In 2006 she became an Honorary Canon of Canterbury Cathedral.

Bishop Karen worked as a parish priest in Yorkshire and Kent, before taking up progressively more senior central Church posts in Kent and Buckinghamshire. She was Archdeacon of Buckingham from 2007, a member of the Church of England General Synod for twelve years, and for the last two served as a member of the Panel of Chairs.

Bishop Karen was consecrated as the 36th Bishop of Sherborne in March 2016, working in the Diocese of Salisbury with responsibility mainly for parishes in Dorset. She is expert in managing complex organisational arrangements and directing the work of groups and individuals, including chairing a number of operational and governance-related groups.