Hundreds of people will gather at Carlisle Cathedral this weekend as new deacons and priests are consecrated to serve Cumbrian communities.
All will be ordained by the Rt Rev Rob Saner-Haigh, the Bishop of Carlisle, at the service on Saturday, June 27, from 11am.
Those to be ordained deacon include a children and families worker and former ice-cream maker, a vet, a former charity director and a GP.
Three will serve as self-supporting – unsalaried – ministers while a fourth will be a stipendiary – salaried – curate.
They are:
- Louise Cox O’Shea to serve Furness Mission Community
- Jo Daly to serve Two Rivers Mission Community
- Rachel Milburn to serve Penrith Mission Community
- Sue Wigley to serve Heart of Westmorland Mission Community
There are 28 mission communities across Cumbria which are mainly cross-denominational and mutually supportive groupings of churches with mission at their centre.
All of the deacons completed their training with Emmanuel Theological College, created through a partnership of six North West dioceses and which the new Bishop of Penrith, the Rt Rev Michael Leyden, was the founding dean.
A deacon is one of the orders of ministry, to which all clergy in the Church of England are admitted. The majority are then ordained priest usually a year after being ordained a deacon and are focused on the leadership of a church community.
However, there are some who are ordained as distinctive deacons, who remain in that role for all their service.
The cathedral ordination service will also be livestreamed on both the Diocese of Carlisle and Carlisle Cathedral Facebook pages.
Three people will be ordained priest at the same service, having been ordained deacon last year.
They are:
- Sheryl Haw to serve Carlisle Rural Mission Community
- Allison Lee to serve Brampton Deanery Area Mission Community
- Andy Ward to serve Kendal Helm Mission Community
From today, all ordinands will take part in a retreat at Rydal Hall, the Diocesan Christian Retreat and Conference Centre, which will be led by the Rev Canon Angela Whittaker, vicar of St Cuthbert’s and St Aidan’s in Carlisle and the Bishop of Carlisle’s adviser for women’s ministry in the Diocese of Carlisle.
Bishop Rob said: “The Petertide ordination service is always a particular highlight for me. I still vividly remember my own ordination at Carlisle Cathedral, the sense of excitement and the weight of expectation and responsibility it carried.
“It is an honour to serve and minister in communities across our wonderful county, yet this also brings with it challenges and demands. So, we give thanks to God for our ordinands who have prayerfully discerned God’s call to step up to the task and to see His Kingdom flourish throughout Cumbria.”
