Clerical variety
Posted: 02 Nov 2006 @ 00:00
by
Margaret Duggan
IF THEIR
SUMS are right at Church House, Westminster (and it is early days before the
official figures come in), 514 deacons have been ordained in the Church of
England this Petertide, and 491 priests, just over 1000 ordinations in all.
Of
the deacons, 310 are stipendiary, 112 non-stipendiary, 87 ordained local
ministers (OLMs), plus a few permanent deacons. They come from an amazing range
of backgrounds.
Take
Southwell diocese as a single example.
The eight
deacons ordained in the Minster by the Bishop of Southwell, the Rt Revd George
Cassidy, included among the men a hospital dietitian; a social worker (the
youngest, at 26) originally from the USA; a County Council personnel officer; a
primary-school teacher, and an evangelist, author and poet who has cerebral
palsy and has represented Great Britain in disabled sports.
The women
included another social worker, a teacher and trainer for the Dyslexia
Institute, and a Marie Curie Cancer Care nurse . . . and those are just the
deacons.
The
following week the Bishop ordained eight priests who have already served a year
as deacons, and all originally from a similar variety of backgrounds.