Message from Bishop Robert, 11 March 2025

I do hope you will take some time to read in the Bulletin today the stories from two of our locally selected Ordained Local Ministers, Jackie Colburn and Clare Negreira.

This is a pathway to ordination that we have been quietly offering for the last few years to those, always over the age of 60 (between the age of 60 and 70) who will serve as assistant curates under the oversight of their incumbent. These people are already offering a ministry that inhabits some of the qualities of an ordained minister. Sometimes these are Readers, other times these are those who have a good theological grounding, always they are those with a track record of pastoral ministry in whom their incumbent, PCC and others see the gifts of a deacon or a priest already at work.

Those exploring this ministry follow a discernment path entirely within the diocese, meeting regularly with a Director of Ordinands for some months to explore their sense of calling, meeting a discernment advisor and undertaking a psychological assessment. This is then followed by a local diocesan panel which makes a recommendation about whether a candidate should be considered for ordination, how soon that might be, and the training pathway they should follow.

In offering this pathway, we are seeking to be responsive to the gifts of ministry that God is giving to the Church, the variety of ministries with which we have been blessed, as well being as good stewards of the faith. It is a discernment process and we by no means always say yes. What we have already discovered that where it is right, as the stories we share today make clear, this ministry is an incredible blessing.

We are certainly not recruiting, but we hope that sharing these stories will help us as a diocese to be alert to where and in whom God is at work, that we might further join in mission and in service.