Retirement is the start of a fresh chapter for many, offering a new lease of life to travel the world, pursue hobbies, hang out with the grandchildren or, for a growing band of people, join the priesthood.

Retired city workers, head teachers and police officers are being fast-tracked into the clergy to bring a “lifetime of work experience” to rural churches and share the load with overstretched vicars.

It is hoped that up to 8,000 Church of England worshippers in their late fifties, sixties or seventies, particularly those with managerial experience from their careers and a track record of serving as church wardens or lay ministers, could be tempted to train as priests to serve in their local parish after retirement.

People are not usually put forward for ordination after the age of 55, and very rarely after 65. The retirement age for clergy is 70 and the selection and training process can take up to five years.

A pilot scheme has reduced this to a single year, working with St Mellitus theological college in London and with the blessing of bishops. One priest, a former partner at the consulting company Accenture, aged 67, has already been ordained. Ten others, including a former boarding school headmistress, a retired police constable and a dressmaker — all in their mid or late sixties — are in training. There are aims to sign up 100 for the next academic year.

Thousands of churches no longer have their own dedicated vicar. Some priests have 20 or more parishes under their care, reliant on teams of assistant priests, retired clergy and lay parishioners to hold services across large areas.

Critics have said that restoring a system of “one-priest-per-church” would boost congregations by forming closer bonds between communities and their vicars. The new “Caleb” scheme aims to find new priests for parishes from within their congregations. They will be “self-supporting” priests, who are not paid a stipend and do not need a vicarage as they already live locally.

The Rev Nicky Gumbel, 67, is stepping down after 17 years as vicar of Holy Trinity, Brompton (HTB), in southwest London, which boasts more than 4,000 worshippers across its six sites. It is one of the most successful Anglican churches and has a network of 127 churches around England that it has “planted” or revitalised.

Gumbel turned Alpha, the course designed to convert the curious to Christianity and which counts the Archbishop of Canterbury as an alumnus, into a global phenomenon and is now championing the “Caleb stream”, run by the HTB-founded Church Revitalisation Trust and named after the biblical figure who still felt strong enough to prove his worth at 85.

Speaking to The Times for his farewell interview and before the Global Alpha Leadership Conference this week, he said there were about half a million Anglican churchgoers aged between 55 and 72. With life expectancy now in the eighties, many want to pursue a new passion in retirement.

“They’ve been involved in church all their life, some are licensed lay ministers, lay chaplains, church wardens, some are just dedicated church people,” he said. “How hard would it be to find 8,000 who would give 25 years for free after they’ve left life in the city or police force?”

Those who feel called to the priesthood discuss it with their priest before embarking on a series of interviews. The usual selection process can last for up to two years, ending with a bishop recommending them for ordination. They then spend two or three years at theological college before being ordained as a deacon and then a priest.

Under the Caleb scheme, candidates can start a one-year training course immediately with the local bishop’s blessing and have interviews as they train. Gumbel aims to sign up more theological colleges.

About 580 people start training as Anglican priests each year, at an average age of 43.

Linde Melhuish, 66, was headmistress of a boarding school and a lay minister and wanted to be a priest, but a bishop was “adamant” that she was too old, she said.

She heard about the Caleb project last August and will be ordained 11 months later, this July, in Hereford Cathedral.

“I was a head teacher for seven years and had been in management of schools before that, so had lots of experience that was transferable,” she said. She will return to serve in her home parish in Herefordshire where eight churches share one stipendiary priest. “The whole idea [is] to help churches in rural areas who are under tremendous strain.”

The Rev Anthony Goddard, 67, is the first Caleb graduate. He was ordained last June and is a curate at his parish in West Sussex. He spent 20 years working for ICI and four years as a partner at Accenture.

“Most people at around 60 have a lot of life experience, a lot of professional experience quite possibly in leadership roles, and hopefully have a good track record of Christian ministry,” he said. “ I spent 25 years in business and then 13 as head and [lay] chaplain of an independent school and was always actively involved in the church.

“The vision is to put thousands of ‘Calebs’ like me into these multi-parish benefices to share the load with the incumbent [priest].”