Diocese of Chichester confirms new details for ordination of deacons and priests

New deacons and priests will be celebrated across the Diocese of Chichester with an extensive sequence of parish-wide ordinations across Sussex.
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In a change to the hoped-for Chichester Cathedral service, which was announced in June, the 17 new Church of England curates will now be ordained locally as deacons between September 19 and October 9.

In addition, 14 new priests will be ordained in their parishes between October 3 and 9.

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The ordination of deacons is usually a highlight of the summer for the church but this year’s Chichester Cathedral event in June was not viable due to the pandemic. It was postponed until October, with hopes of a full service in the cathedral, but it is now clear that is not possible either.

Dr Martin Warner, Bishop of ChichesterDr Martin Warner, Bishop of Chichester
Dr Martin Warner, Bishop of Chichester

Instead, individual ordinations will be held in parish churches and led by the Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner and the newly-consecrated suffragan bishops, Ruth Bushyager for Horsham and Will Hazelwood for Lewes.

The new curates will be ordained as deacons, which marks the first year of Church of England ministry. They will put their training into practice working in a parish with an incumbent, before being ordained as priests the following year.

Canon Stephen Ferns, senior chaplain to the Bishop of Chichester, said: “As you can see from the extensive list and wide range of venues, this has been a major logistical undertaking and we are enormously grateful to the incumbents and parishes working with us to ensure we provide the very best celebration of these varied new ministries across the Diocese.”

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Family, friends and representatives of the church communities will be present at the services and, due to social distancing, it is hoped they can be live streamed or recorded so others can join in.

The candidates have already completed their pre-ordination training and were licensed as lay workers by the Bishop of Chichester, following the postponement of the June ordination.

Canon Rebecca Swyer, diocesan director of apostolic life, said this allowed them to settle into their parishes and begin to get to know people they will serve over the summer, as far as current restrictions had allowed.

She added: “It also gave them the Bishop’s permission to take some role in leading worship and to preach.”

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The new priests to be ordained were all ordained as deacons at Chichester Cathedral last summer and are currently serving as curates across Sussex.

Following the normal custom, the suffragan bishops of Horsham and Lewes will take responsibility for these ordinations, which had to be delayed due to the closure of cathedrals and churches until early July.

Rather than having a group service, the church has arranged for individual ordinations, to allow more family members and representatives of the local churches to attend.

Mr Ferns said: “We are really grateful to all of the incumbents and parishes who are putting a great deal of effort into planning a time of celebration for each of the candidates.

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“After serving as deacons for just over a year they are now entering the final weeks of preparation for their ordination as priest and the prayers of all of us in the diocese are with them.”

Here is a full list of dates and venues. All events are subject to change at a later date and will be dependent on Government advice at the time.

Saturday, September 19: At St Mary’s, Kemptown, at 2.30pm, James Bailey from St Peter’s, Brighton, will be ordained as a deacon, and at 6pm, Jon Harley from St Matthias, Brighton, will be ordained as a deacon, both by the Bishop of Chichester.

Sunday, September 20: At St Mary de Haura, Shoreham, at 2.30pm, Steven Emerson from St Mary de Haura, will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester; and at 6pm, Heather Wilkin from Henfield will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

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Monday, September 21: At St Peter and St Paul, Ashington, at 7pm, Patrick Pearson-Miles from Chantonbury Churches will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Horsham; and at St Mary’s, Kemptown, at 7pm, Richard Merrick from St Cuthman’s, Whitehawk, will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

Wednesday, September 23: At St Thomas’, Groombridge, at 7pm, Trevor Harrison from Groombridge will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Lewes; and at St Peter and St Paul, West Wittering, at 7pm, Anthony Goddard from West Wittering and Birdham with Itchenor will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

Thursday, September 24: At St John the Divine, West Worthing, at 7pm, William (Josh) Delia from St John the Divine, West Worthing, and St Andrew’s Worthing will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

Friday, September 25: At St Mary’s, Kemptown, at 7pm, Sarah Van den driessche from St Mary’s will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

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Saturday, September 26: At St Peter’s, Brighton, at 2.30pm, Hannah Milne from St Peter’s will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Lewes.

Sunday, September 27: At St John’s, Crawley, at 3pm, Samuel Buck from St John’s will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester; and at 6pm, at Worth, Greta Sawyer from Worth with Maidenbower will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Horsham.

Monday, September 28: At St Mary Magdalene’s Lyminster, at 7pm, Mark Rodger from All Saints, Wick, will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

Tuesday, September 29: At St Margaret’s, Angmering, at 7pm, Benjamin Lucas from St Margaret’s will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

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Wednesday, September 30: At St Mary’s Hailsham, at 7pm, David Griffin from Hailsham will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Lewes.

Saturday, October 3: At 3pm, Neill Stannard will be ordained as priest at St Mary’s, Goring, by the Bishop of Chichester; Elizabeth Green will be ordained as priest at St Alban’s, Gossops Green, by the Bishop of Horsham; and Thomas Crowley will be ordained as priest at St Saviour’s, Eastbourne, by the Bishop of Lewes; then at 6pm, Elizabeth Jinks will be ordained as priest at St Mark’s, Holbrook, by the Bishop of Horsham.

Sunday, October 4: At 3pm, Sally Mitchell will be ordained as priest at West Grinstead by the Bishop of Horsham; and Dominik Chmielewski will be ordained as priest at St Nicholas, Arundel, by the Bishop of Lewes; then at 6pm, Alexandra Wheeler will be ordained as priest at St John the Evangelist, Copthorne, by the Bishop of Horsham; and Michael Milmine will be ordained as priest at St Pancras, Chichester, by the Bishop of Chichester.

Monday, October 5: At 7pm, Shirley Tupper will be ordained as priest at St Peter’s, Upper Beeding, by the Bishop of Horsham.

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Tuesday, October 6: At 7pm, Sandra Wickens will be ordained as priest at St Denys’, Rotherfield, by the Bishop of Horsham.

Wednesday, October 7: At 7pm, Torhild Fikseaunet will be ordained as priest at All Saints’, Old Heathfield, by the Bishop of Horsham.

Thursday, October 8: At 7pm, Alistair Marshall will be ordained as priest at St Peter’s, Brighton, by the Bishop of Horsham.

Friday, October 9: At Bishop Hannington, Hove, at 6pm, Benjamin Martin from Bishop Hannington, will be ordained as a deacon by the Bishop of Chichester.

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Saturday, October 10: At 3pm, Thomas Fink-Jensen will be ordained as priest at St Michael and All Angels, South Lancing, by the Bishop of Lewes.

Sunday, October 11: At 6pm, Emma Ham-Riche will be ordained as priest at East Preston by the Bishop of Horsham.

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