Nearly 600 people were recommended for training for ordained ministry in the Church of England last year, including the highest number for a generation of candidates expected to take up paid clergy posts.In spite of the impact of the pandemic, 591 people were recommended for training for ordained ministry in 2020, the highest figure for 13 years. Of these, 431 plan to exercise stipendiary, or paid ministry – the highest number for 34 years.The Church of England’s Ministry Statistics show that women made up the majority of the 580 ordinands who started training for ordained ministry in September last year – at 54% - for the third year running.Nearly a quarter of the men and women starting training, or 23%, were aged under 32 years old. Nearly two fifths, or 39%, were aged under 40.Ordinands from UK Minority Ethnic (UKME) backgrounds made up 10.9% of the intake, while 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.The figures show the number of people starting training last year had grown by 22% compared to 2016, from 480 to 580. Overall, there were nearly 20,000 active clergy in the Church of England at the end of last year with the majority working in a particular church or churches. Just over 2,000 were working in other areas such as chaplaincy, theological colleges and diocesan roles.The figures show also that 230 people began training for Reader and or Licensed Lay Ministry.The Ministry Statistics have been released after a temporary online discernment process was introduced during the first lockdown last year, with the large majority of in-person residential discernment events (known as Bishops Advisory Panels), cancelled because of the pandemic.The Rt Revd Chris Goldsmith, Director of Ministry (pictured), highlighted the work of parishes during the lockdown last year and thanked all who had expressed a ministerial vocation.“It is a privilege to share with you the task of declaring the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and of enabling others to do the same,” he said.He added: “Last year we saw the very best of the parish system come to the fore when our worshipping communities found a range of creative ways to broadcast the unchanging love of God in very uncertain times. I am so grateful for each one.“People both lay and ordained have gone beyond themselves to serve others in extraordinary ways as our communities have worshipped, suffered, grieved and, on occasion, celebrated in the shadow of a global pandemic.”The Church of England’s Head of Vocations, Revd Helen Fraser, paid tribute to the dedication and perseverance of all those who had kept the discernment process on course during the pandemic.“We thank God for his generosity and express our gratitude to our colleagues in the dioceses, parishes and national church, who have shown such dedication and perseverance,” she said.
<div id="paragraphs-text-151007"><div><div>LLF is a set of resources exploring questions of human identity, sexuality, relationships, and marriage, launched on 9 November 2020.All 42 dioceses have appointed ‘LLF Advocates’, who are enabling churches to engage with the LLF resources in ways appropriate to local contexts.More than 85 percent of all dioceses (36) will have held an ‘LLF taster’ event day for clergy and lay people by the end of the month, with more than 5000 people participating in these so far. Since the launch of LLF, requests for the resources have also been unprecedented: more than 13,000 copies of the LLF Course have been distributed whilst the LLF book has been reprinted three times since publication due to strong demand. The LLF resources – which include a 5-session course for local groups – are designed to facilitate open, honest, and gracious learning and discussion among churchgoers across the country.LLF draws together the Bible, theology, science, and history with powerful real-life stories, in what is understood to be the most extensive undertaking of any church to hear and articulate as wide a range of voices, lived experiences and theological understandings as possible in this area.The LLF process of listening and learning together is not expected to be an easy one – but these strides are encouraging, and we thank all LLF Advocates for inspiring others to engage with openness, kindness, compassion, and grace. Bishop Sarah Mullaly, Chair of the Next Steps Group said: “There is a hopeful momentum as church groups have started to engage with the resources and are beginning to feed back through the online survey as well as in creative ways."The Next Steps Group is committed to continuing to support and listen as engagement begins to proliferate across the Church.” LLF Enabling Officer, Dr Eeva John, said: “It has been a privilege to have offered facilitation training for over 350 people."Learning about and sharing good practice is giving people the confidence to lead small groups in a way that deepens understanding and relationships even across disagreement about such sensitive and personal matters."A number of groups have engaged already online, while others plan to engage in the autumn when restrictions are lifted.”
THE mother of two women who were murdered last summer by a 19-year-old man says that she has already forgiven their killer, but warned that he could become radicalised while in prison.A former Archdeacon of Southend, the Ven. Wilhelmina (Mina) Smallman, was reacting to the guilty verdict reached on Tuesday in the case against Danyal Hussein, for the murders of Bibaa Henry, aged 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, in Fryent Country Park, in north-west London (News, 19 June 2020).Mrs Smallman spoke about her daughters to the Radio 4 <em>Today</em> programme on Wednesday: “When we hold hatred for someone, it’s not only them who is held captive, it’s you, because your thoughts become consumed by revenge. I refuse to give him that power. He is a nonentity to me.”Hussein stabbed the two women to death in a random attack in the early hours of 6 June last year. A note found in his grandmother’s house, addressed to a demon and signed in his blood, stated that he planned to kill six women every six months, and in return he expected a lottery win.The detective who led the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, said: “I firmly believe he would have carried out his contract. He would have carried on killing women, until he had killed the first six. . . He is a very, very dangerous individual.”Hussein had been referred to the Government’s counter-extremism Prevent programme for researching far-right material when he was 15, but was discharged after a year. Mrs Smallman said: “If this young man does have this tendency, when he goes into prison he is going to be even more radicalised. He’s a killer now; he’ll be a killing machine by the time he comes out. It’s up to those who assess who is due for release how they are watched and monitored.”
