On Saturday June 15th our Curate Simon was ordained as a Deacon at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary at Chester, with 17 other Ordinands from the Chester Diocese. A coachload from St Cross and St Helens, Witton (Northwich), joined a large congregation at Chester to witness and be part of this memorable occasion. As people spilled out of the cathedral church there were so many people packed around the West Door it was impossible to get everyone with Simon to take a picture. He did come down to the coach before he left and gave a 'priestly blessing' to everyone! It was appreciated and in that moment taken with laughter too.
picture courtesy of The Ven. Dr Michael Gilbertson
Simon preached the following day on Trinity Sunday and shared his thoughts of ministry, reminding everyone of the importance of lay ministry in all its aspects. We were asked to think about his thoughts of a 'four-fold' order of ministry; bishops, priests, deacons and the laity rather than the traditional 'three-fold' order of bishops, priests and deacons. A reminder that we all play our part in the sharing of God's love but it is the laity who are at the 'coal face' so to speak, and it is usually the laity who are first point of contact into the church for our friends and neighbours. We look forward to Simon's continuing ministry among us here until the time comes when his calling from Christ takes him elsewhere. We also look forward to his first celebration of the Eucharist this week, on Corpus Christi.
