The UKME (UK Minority Ethnic) Ordinands and Curates group hopes to meet every three months to provide a voice and support for a growing number of UKME ordinands and curates. The group has been set up by former junior doctor Angela Sheard, who is training at Queen’s Foundation theological education institution in Birmingham and former biomedical scientist Tariro Matsveru who was ordained in June and is now a curate in King’s Heath, Birmingham.Revd Tariro, who was born in Zimbabwe and trained at Cranmer Hall in Durham, said the group aims to support ordinands and curates across the country. “We want to encourage and support the vocations of ordinands and curates of UKME/Global Majority Heritage in the Church of England within dioceses and theological colleges," she said.“We want to also bring to the attention of the Church the challenges being faced by UKME/GMH ordinands and curates and join the Church of England’s efforts in challenging these issues.” The group has been set up as the proportion of people from UKME backgrounds starting training for ordained ministry in the Church of England rose last year to 10.9%. A total of 8.9% of stipendiary clergy ordained last year were from a UKME background. This compares to 4.1% of the current pool of stipendiary clergy. “More people are going into training for ordained ministry which is fantastic but they are often quite scattered around the country,” Dr Sheard said.“The network has a vision of UKME ordinands and curates flourishing and being celebrated within the Church as part of the body of Christ.”The Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin, has welcomed the launch of the group.“We are saying by our very presence and offering ourselves for ministry that we belong in the church, we are here to serve, because that is our calling,” she said.“I am encouraged by the number of us who are knocking on the door but sometimes we have to push the door. We are not guests to be welcomed, we belong, it is our church and we are here to stay.”Dr. Sanjee Perera, Archbishops’ Adviser for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns. said: “I am delighted to see the UKME Ordinands and Curates network launch. “UKME ordinands and curates have long needed this space of fellowship, support and representation and I am thrilled that Angela and Tariro have responded with such extraordinary insight, to my invitation.“I hope they will be a critical friend and a conversation partner to the Church of England, as we forge a space where everyone whatever their heritage, culture or ethnicity can flourish.”
A giant sculpture named 'DOUBT' will be installed on the West Front of Wells Cathedral on 26 August. The new work is by British sculptor Sir Antony Gormley and is on loan to Wells for 18 months. The West Front is made from local stone and over the centuries, weathering and damage has affected the statues, resulting in a number of vacant niches. It is one of these, Niche 338, which will be occupied by Gormley’s sculpture. Sir Antony (see photo) said: "I am very aware of the paradox of placing an object called DOUBT on the facade of a building devoted to belief. But it seems to me that doubting, interrogating, questioning, are all part of belief. "For me, doubt can be a positive force and the imaginative engine of future possibility. I am interested in conversations in and about time - and in art as a continuum that bring history to now. "I have chosen this niche outside Wells Cathedral for its exposed position and visibility: the book at the end of the bookshelf." He added: "I see DOUBT as an attempt to invoke a feeling of being isolated and exposed on the corner of a Gothic masterpiece. "In the context of an 800-year-old celebration of hierarchy, I wish to make a space for a contemporary state of mind."
This Sunday our joint parish Holy Communion service will take place at St Peter's Church, Hascombe at 10am. We'd love to see you there. Our celebrant is Revd Rutton Viccajee (see photo).If you're housebound or away you may like to join us via Zoom. Just click on the link below.https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87545498163?pwd=Vis0M2dHYkd5dHBHdWkvUG9rRzVIUT09Meeting ID: 875 4549 8163 Passcode: 737239
A new statue of the Queen will stand "proud and resolute" at York Minster, the designer has said.Richard Bossons, part of the cathedral's masonry team, said the design would complement the medieval facade of the 800-year-old building.The 6ft 7in (2m) tall statue, weighing almost two tonnes, will sit in an empty niche on the minster's west front.It will be installed in 2022 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.Mr Bossons, (see left of photo with the Dean of York Minster,Dr Jonathan Frost) said the statue had been a challenge to design."The statue needs to be part of the fabric, not a distraction from it, yet it also has to have the poise and presence befitting of the Queen's unique role," he said.The statue will depict the Queen wearing Garter robes and the George IV State Diadem and holding the orb and sceptre, the symbols of her authority.It will be carved from a block of Lepine stone, a French limestone previously used for other figurative carvings at the cathedral."She will stand proud and resolute in her niche, welcoming worshippers and visitors alike," Mr Bossons said.The statue will overlook a new public square, proposed for the west front of the minster, to be called Queen Elizabeth Square.The Dean of York, Dr Jonathan Frost, said he hoped the statue would "inspire the city and be a cause for celebration as we recover from the pandemic".The initial design has been developed in consultation with York's Fabric Advisory Committee and the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, who have given permission in principle for the statue under the Care of Cathedrals Measure, which is the legal framework against which all major changes to cathedral buildings are considered.
