6 November 2011

Another milestone

Today in the Parish of St Mary Magdalene in Clitheroe, an announcement was made which referred to me.

I was named as the new curate of the parish, who will be taking up his post after ordination as a Deacon at the end of June next year (all being well).

Of course, this wasn't a surprise for me. We've been moving towards today's announcement for some time, and just had to wait for certain formalities before announcements could be made.

The church building (pictured above) is the Parish Church for the town (pictured below as seen from the slopes of Pendle (see the picture at the bottom for a view of Pendle from a neighbouring church)). Rather than tell you what I think about it (from a relatively short visit), you should probably take a look at the website I've linked in the first paragraph.

Both DrLanky and I are very happy about the news. Clitheroe is a lovely town, and the parish seems like a perfect fit for us. The Priest in charge of the parish is a former student of Westcott House, and we seem to get on very well. The only slightly troublesome thing is that he and I share Christian names, as do our wives! I suspect there will be a degree of confusion in PCC minutes, magazines, newspapers etc... All good fun!

One thing we don't know about yet concerns housing. As the parish has not had a curate in the last couple of years, there is no house for us yet. The Diocese plans to buy something for us, and we'll have to wait and see what they suggest. At least this way we know that a house will be bought with our needs in mind.

Today feels like a significant step to me. Of course coming away to theological college was a fairly significant step on a personal level, but until today I've been fairly anonymous. Today marks a significant milestone in my life and vocation as what our Principal would call a 'public Christian' - someone who represents Christ and the Church. Of course, that journey will have more significant steps to come (not least ordination), but today still feels significant. In a small market town in Lancashire, a number of people now know that we'll be there in the summer. I hope they're excited; I am.

4 comments:

  1. Hi lanky
    Clitheroe is a lovely town. Glad to hear that all is going well with your curacy. No where near announcing mine- my second visit will be at the start of the christmas break and then hopefully all the necessary parperwork will be done and an anouncement made.
    It's quite a sobering thought isn't it to realise how soon we will be deaconed?
    Janet (Vicarfactorycalling)

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  2. Sobering is a good word! It certainly focusses the mind on the job in hand, which for me at the moment is an essay on John's gospel.

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  3. Very excited that you guys will be moving to Clitheroe! Let me know if you want me to check anything out for you! ;-)

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  4. We're very excited too! We're hoping to have some input into house buying so should be up at some time around Christmas. I guess you'll be off with family by the time we arrive, but I'll let you know anyway - it would be good to meet up.

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