The Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern, will ordain men and women into the Church of England as deacons at a special service in Derby Cathedral on Sunday 29th June (10.45am).

The candidates, all of whom are coming to the end of training preparing them for ordination, will then serve as curates in churches across the Diocese of Derby.

Deacons assist priests in the ministry of the Church and, after a year, they are usually ordained into the priesthood.

All of the candidates will go on an ordination retreat at Morley Retreat house from Wed-Sun 25-29 June. The retreat conductor, who will also preach in the Cathedral on the Sunday, will be Charlotte Methuen.

The candidates will be supported by family and friends and representatives from the churches to which they are going to serve.

New priests (those deacons ordained last year) will be ordained on the day before at St.Oswald’s, Ashbourne and St. Mary’s, Wirksworth.

The candidates (deacons) and the parishes to which they are going are as follows:

(click on their names for profiles of the candidates - where available)

Ends

Profiles of Deacons

Over the coming few weeks, more profiles for the candidates will be appearing here.

Ashbourne "claims" new Curate

Michael Doyle, a Long Eaton insurance claims inspector with a passion for medieval history, will be ordained into the ranks of the Church of England clergy in Derby Cathedral on Sunday (29th June, 10.45am) by the Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern.

He will serve as Curate of Ashbourne, from where members of the congregation will join his family and friends in the Cathedral on Sunday for the service.

Since leaving school, Mike, who was born in East Anglia, has worked exclusively in the Insurance industry.

He has been training for ordination at St. John's College, Nottingham. "St. John's is a far cry from my usual church background, which is more towards the catholic end of the spectrum, but I feel that my time at St. Johns has broadened my outlook and made me a more rounded individual," said Mike this week.

He has been married to Sarah for nearly 11 years and they have two sons, Michael & Benedict.

After serving for a year, deacons are then usually ordained priest, allowing them to celebrate the Eucharist and play an even fuller role as Ministers of the Church.

Outside of work and church all the family enjoy early medieval re-enactment, mainly around the period AD950-1100. He has enjoyed re-enacting many battles including the Battle of Hastings. He hopes to maintain this hobby when time allows following his ordination and taking on the post of Curate of Ashbourne.

Charity Manager Val Hart becomes local Curate

Val Hart, Manager of Children First Derby, will be ordained into the Church of England at a special service in Derby Cathedral during June before serving in the Parish of St Osmund’s, Wilmorton, Derby.

Val, who was born in Leicestershire, trained as a Registered Sick Children’s Nurse in Nottingham and eventually became ward sister at Nottingham City Hospital. After a stint working in County Durham, she eventually returned to Derbyshire and settled in Belper where she attended Christ Church.

The Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern, will lead the service at which candidates will be ordained deacon. After serving for a year, deacons are then usually ordained priest, allowing them to celebrate the Eucharist and play an even fuller role as Ministers of the Church.

Val's family and friends will be joined at the service by members of the congregation from Wilmorton where she will serve as curate.

"Since the early 1980’s I have worked in the voluntary sector. I eventually became Manager of Children First Derby, a local charity that works with families with children up to eighteen years at times of stress and crisis," Val said this week. She is also a trustee of Kid’s Aid Tanzania, a local charity that works to improve the quality of life for children orphaned mainly as a result of the AIDS/HIV epidemic.

Val has two grown-up sons who live locally and an eight month old grandson. Her elder son is to be married in October.

Robert to be ordained

Robert Heeley, who has live in the Glossop area for most of his adult life, will be ordained into the Church of England in Derby Cathedral on Sunday 29th June (10.45am) to serve as a non stipendiary deacon at St.Andrew's Church, Hadfield.

The Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern, will lead the Cathedral service.

After serving for a year, deacons are then usually ordained priest, allowing them to celebrate the Eucharist and play an even fuller role as Ministers of the Church.

Robert is married to Elizabeth and they have three grown up children.

He said today: "I have been resident in Derbyshire for most of my life, being born and brought up in Killamarsh near Sheffield and living in Matlock before moving to the Glossop area".

He added: "I was a licensed Reader for ten years before training for Ordination. I enjoy walking in the countryside, reading and listening to all kinds of music".

Sainsbury’s support Peter’s new vocation

Peter Mallinson, who works for Sainsbury's and who has been exploring how to combine his full-time job in the supermarket chain with an ordained ministry in the Church of England, will finally be ordained deacon at the end of this month.

Peter, 51, will be ordained in Derby Cathedral on Sunday 29th June (10.45am) and will serve in the benefice of St Edmund’s, Allestree and St Matthew’s, Darley Abbey, on the outskirts of Derby.

The Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern, will lead the Cathedral service.

After serving for a year, deacons are then usually ordained priest, allowing them to celebrate the Eucharist and play an even fuller role as Ministers of the Church.

Peter is married to Fiona and they have two children, Lydia and Jacob.

He said: “I work for Sainsbury’s. It is with their support and approval that I am training at St John’s College, Nottingham on the Mixed Mode Course. I am the first person in Diocese of Derby to take this course, which fits in well with my secular work.”

He added: “The other side of my training is with Canon Christine Dyer at St Edmund’s, Allestree and St Matthew’s, Darley Abbey on the outskirts of Derby. I have been warmly welcomed and supported by the people of both churches, who have helped develop within me a deeper understanding of parish work..”

Peter was licensed as Lay Curate by Bishop the Bishop of Derby in 2006 and is now looking forward to beginning his ordained ministry.

Sally at St Martin's

Sally Mason will become the new Curate of St Martin, Alfreton, following her ordination by the Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern, on Sunday 29th June (1045) in Derby Cathedral.

Candidates from all over the Diocese will be ordained deacon. Deacons assist priests in parishes before, usually, being ordained priest a year later.

Sally 55, was born in Kelstedge near Ashover, but moved to Stonebroom near Alfreton when she was just one year old.

She grew up in Stonebroom, but after her marriage to Malcolm in 1972 they moved to live in the neighbouring village of Morton.

The couple of have two daughters, Caroline who is a paramedic in Derby and Rebecca who is a radiographer in Cheltenham.

"I was licensed as Reader in 1996 and served in the United Benefice of Morton and Stonebroom with Shirland. Malcolm and I both like musical theatre, amateur dramatics and rambling, and we both used to work at the Post Office Accounts Department in Chesterfield."

She added: "I left full-time work to become a full-time mother and housewife. I am at present a carer for my Dad who lives at Stonebroom".

Captain Alan to be ordained

Alan Price, a Church Army Captain with wide experience of working with children in church, will be ordained into the Church of England in Derby Cathedral on Sunday 29th June (10.45am) He will serve as Minister of the Parish of St John the Evangelist, Charlesworth, where he has been working as a Lay Minister.

The Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern, will lead the Cathedral service.

After serving for a year, deacons are then usually ordained priest, allowing them to celebrate the Eucharist and play an even fuller role as Ministers of the Church.

Alan, (60), has been a Church Army Officer for nearly 38 years before ordination. He is married to Carol, who was also a Church Army Officer prior to her ordination in 2003. They have three adult children.

“Captain Alan” (as he is known by 1000s of children) has had a wide and varied ministry throughout the UK (and abroad), particularly involved with children’s ministry.

For several years he worked under the auspices of the Teknon Trust.

He has written and recorded over 100 songs for children, published by ICC/Daybreak Music Ltd, and had several books published.

For 14 years he led the “Captain’s Crew” children’s ministry at the NEW WINE summer conference in Shepton Mallett. He still has a passion for working with children in the Church, but sees it in a wider context of the local church community, where every member, young and old, has a role to play.

Originally from Liverpool, he has been Lay Minister-in-Charge of the Parish of St John the Evangelist, Charlesworth, and will continue there as an ordained minister.

New Curate at St Giles Normanton-by-Derby

Andrew Hutchinson, a former history teacher at Queen's College, Taunton, will become the new Curate of St Giles, Normanton-by-Derby at the start of July.

After studying at Oak Hill Theological College, Andrew, 29, will be ordained deacon in Derby Cathedral on Sunday 29th June (10.45am) by the Bishop of Repton, Humphrey Southern.

After serving for a year, deacons are then usually ordained priest, allowing them to celebrate the Eucharist and play an even fuller role as Ministers of the Church.

Known to his friends as "Hutch", Andrew is married to Lu and the couple are looking forward to their new life in the region.

Andrew said today: "I am a big fan of the arts but would claim to be more of an enthusiast on the sports field over excelling as a practitioner (as far as achievements go it would have to be getting off a rugby pitch without a broken bone…yet)!"

He added: "Lu and I are very much looking forward to the move to Derby and to settling in at St Giles Normanton by Derby.