Rev Dot is at the end and the start of a long journey!!

Ordained ministry is a big commitment. It requires a lot of thought and prayer. 

It starts when you follow your calling and, after a lot of discussion with your Vicar and your friends (not to mention God!) the bishop sends you to a selection residential known as a Bishop’s Advisory Panel. The panel decides whether to recommend to your bishop that you go forward for ordination training.

Once recommended, you prepare for ordination at a theological education institution. There are numerous pathways available, the most common falling into residential (where you usually live in the college) and non-residential (where you train in a context based setting).

Upon successful completion of your course, you are ordained a deacon by your bishop, (as Dot was last year) and begin a curacy in a parish. Your curacy is an opportunity to serve alongside an experienced vicar, putting into practice the knowledge gained from your course and learning from them as you prepare for your own ministry.

As a deacon you are able to do weddings and baptisms, but you must be ordained priest before you can preside over Holy Communion. You will most likely be ordained a priest by your bishop after a year of curacy, as Dot was on Saturday.

Many congratulations Rev Dot.