DROITWICH gained a new member of the clergy last weekend with the ordination of Jon Turner at Worcester Cathedral who will serve with the Saltway ministry.
He joined ten other candidates who were ordained by the Bishop of Dudley, the Right Reverend Martin Gorick who is also currently the Acting Bishop of Worcester to serve in parishes across the diocese.
Seven candidates have completed their first year and were ordained priests in the cathedral on Saturday (June 28) and are now able to preside at the holy communion.
Jon and a further three candidates were ordained deacon on Sunday (June 29) and are entering their first year of training as a curate.
Reflecting on his ordination Jon, a former Baptist minister who has served in the West Midlands and overseas, said: “So why am I joining the Church of England you might be wondering? I think this is a natural progression of God’s call on my life to serve him in full time ministry.
“I found myself working for a Christian mission agency rather than pastoring a Baptist fellowship [and] out of the blue I felt God’s nudge to explore priestly ministry – it was like an overwhelming thought that I just couldn’t shake.
“To help test the call I started working for the Church of England in Birmingham as director of new congregations and this gave me good exposure to the wide breadth of ministry that occurs across the CofE.
“After a few years in this role, I felt it was the right time to pursue the calling and so I attended a Bishops’ Advisory Panel which, to my surprise, gave its approval.
“So, in response I started studying theology – again – at Queen’s Foundation. I have enjoyed every minute of my formation training, and I am excited to get going in my training curacy role.”
The Revd Canon Dr Richard Cooke, former principal of the Coventry Diocesan Training Partnership and now rector of the Ilmington Downs and Stour Valley Parishes in the Diocese of Coventry, preached at both services having led a pre-ordination retreat for all candidates.
Bishop Martin said: “It is always a great privilege to be able to ordain people who have discovered the love of God in their lives and have decided to devote themselves to bringing that love to others.
“All these candidates will be a blessing to the churches in which they serve as well as the wider community.”
