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CofE: One thousand #NewRevs “a remarkable gift to both Church and Nation”
Church of England News
June 27, 2014
The Church of England will be ordaining nearly 1000 men and women this summer to minister in churches across the country.
Coming from a wide range of backgrounds including the Army, banking, social media consultancy and racecourse management, new deacons and priests will be celebrating their new roles as "Reverends" within the Church of England.
As part of the celebrations those being ordained (ordinands) their friends, family, congregations and clergy are being encouraged to use twitter to congratulate and celebrate these #NewRevs.
As part of the ordination service, the new priests and deacons are addressed by a Bishop of the diocese in which they will serve who will say: "They are to proclaim the gospel in word and deed, as agents of God's purposes of love. They are to serve the community in which they are set, bringing to the Church the needs and hopes of all the people. They are to work with their fellow members in searching out the poor and weak, the sick and lonely and those who are oppressed and powerless, reaching into the forgotten corners of the world, that the love of God may be made visible."
The Bishop of Sheffield, Steven Croft, Chair of the Church of England's Ministry Council, said:
"The ordination of nearly a thousand new deacons and priests in this season is a remarkable gift to both the Church and our nation. These deacons and priests will between them make an extraordinary contribution to the lives of communities across the land, in service, in leading God's people in worship and through inviting others to follow Christ.
"It is a huge encouragement to see so many women and men in every age group responding to God's call to ordained ministry".
Among the new clergy being ordained this weekend is Chris Sutton, an Actuary and former banking executive is being ordained in Chichester Diocese and will be starting a curacy in St Mary's Slaugham and St Mark's Staplefield. In a video interview for the Church of England, Chris talks about his journey through training and how he's looking forward to "a new found freedom and opportunities to witness in a more direct way", while social media consultant Bryony Taylor shares how she will use her expertise in her new church role.
Another ordinand, Alasdair Kay, is a former French Foreign Legion para-commando who found faith in the army and is now looking forward to a less precarious posting, as a curate in the Walbrook Epiphany Team Ministry in Normanton, in Derby Diocese.
As part of the celebrations, the Bishop of Taunton has taken to the Church of England's flagship social media project, @OurCofE, to share his perspective on the season of ordinations, including tweeting about a service of ordination he himself will be taking.
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