Twenty new deacons will be ordained at Christ Church Cathedral on 5 July, going on to serve their curacies throughout the diocese.
The ordination services will be led by Bishop Mary and Bishop Dave. Bishop Mary said: "It is such a joy to be accompanying those getting ordained in July; people who express much of the wonderful diversity of humanity; women and men who have said “Yes” to God’s call to them. They are an incredible gift to the church, and a wonderful reminder that God has a plan for each of us, whoever we are."
Bishop Dave shared this prayer ahead of the service:
Lord Jesus Christ, you called your first disciples to follow you by the Sea of Galilee. We pray for those responding to the same call by being ordained in the Diocese of Oxford. Pour out your Spirit on them, that they may follow you faithfully and bring new life to others in your name. Amen
Buckinghamshire
For Daniel Carter it was the loss of a friend aged just 15 which made him realise he was ‘not invincible’ and kick-started an interest in God. Angry at losing his friend in a drowning accident, Daniel was among a group of youngsters who were questioning some volunteers from the Just Around the Corner youth charity, asking how God could let such a tragedy happen.
He explains: “What is amazing is that when Tyson died the spiritual atmosphere of the group changed – lots of people were asking about God and the meaning of life. It brought that Christian faith to the forefront. It struck me, how the Christians were responding to these sometimes angry questions. They were responding in love, patience and understanding. I thought ‘wow, what have you got?’ I asked the question and was told ‘I am in a relationship with God through Jesus’.”
It was this moment which Daniel’s life changed. He spent the next 15 years following God at a variety of churches including a free church and Anglican settings. In a full circle moment, he became a youth worker for the charity which had brought him to God, supporting and mentoring young people. When Daniel changed direction from youth worker to key worker at Yeldall Manor in Reading, he felt the call to ordination and began to explore his vocation.
Daniel said: “Jesus is the centre of my heart and my relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the most important thing to me and I would even say it is central and crucial to our family. The Bible is the foundation of our life and we rely on God’s spirit to make it clear to us and to guide us through his word.”
Daniel will serve his curacy in Hazlemere and has moved with his wife Caitlyn and daughters Grace and Ruth to Widmore End. He is a keen footballer and is looking for a new team to play with!
Christ Church Cathedral holds a special place in the life of Josh Harris and his family as the venue for the ordination of his mum in the late 90s and the upcoming service which will see Josh take the same step next month.
His call to ordination felt like the natural next step following on from his university studies and Josh decided to take on a year’s placement after spending a year as a parish assistant. He went on to study for ordination at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, West Yorkshire where he the college has echoes of the monastic community which was founded there.
Josh said: “Living in community, sharing prayer, lectures and meals was really important for me and foundational. It really helped me to grow in confidence.”
Josh will serve his curacy at All Saints Church in High Wycombe. In his spare time he enjoys Lego, theatre and cinema and following his favourite musicians which include Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen!
He added: “My faith means a constant hope in the promise that Jesus offers in the resurrection and to me that is manifested by being part of the loving Christian community that has supported me since I was an infant. “I am looking forward to getting stuck in with everything and seeing how God is at work and helping out with that. I am most excited to meet everyone and get to know the people and learn how I can help and serve them in the best way I can.”
Although he grew up as a Roman Catholic, Mark’s faith only took firm roots in him when he returned to church in his 30s, encouraged by his wife to be Melissa. While Mark had drifted away from his Christian upbringing, he felt God’s presence by his side.
He explained: “Whenever the going was tough I ended up asking for help and by God’s grace I received that help. But I wasn’t ready to admit who I was asking for help.” Mark’s call to ministry came some years later, during a conversation with a minister at his church following the Christmas service he had helped to organise as part of his role as a children’s ministry volunteer.
Mark said: “My faith is a constant. It has always been there in the good and bad and that has only grown since I discerned this calling. It is a joy and it is something I want to share with others, those who have not come to faith yet. I want them to experience what I have. My faith just feels so right, so correct.”
A self-supporting minister, Mark will continue his job as an IT consultant alongside his curacy at North Marston and Granborough churches. He lives in the village with his three teenaged children and his wife. In his spare time he enjoys playing tennis with his wife and getting the whole family out for walks at the local National Trust properties.
When Lewis Simonds began to teach religious studies alongside his regular subject of history, he decided to find out more so he could answer his students’ questions. Now he realises this was God opening the door for him and Lewis stepped in!
He completed the Alpha course and became part of the church which welcomed him. Lewis became an active part of the church, taking part in the revitalising of another congregation in the parish. Then followed an invitation to a vocations breakfast where Lewis began his path to ordination.
Lewis said: “Faith to me is a sense of certainty about the fact that you are loved and cherished and have a place in a mind, body and world that has so much uncertainty in it. “It helps to reconcile the fact that there is so much that one can experience, so much chaos and at the same time there is so much joy and certainty and comfort and love.”
Following his studies at Trinity College Bristol, where he arrived with a wife and one young child and will leave with two, Lewis will serve his curacy in St Frideswide’s in Water Eaton.
He added: “I have a calling for children, young people and families’ ministry, beyond that of the priesthood, in adding to the way that St Frideswide’s reaches out to people on the margins of society and the margins of church. I am looking forward to getting to know these communities and meeting and helping them where they are.”
Meeting people where they are also forms part of the ministry Lewis will be delivering next week to the thousands of festival goers attending Glastonbury. He will be part of an ecumenical team serving the festival, with a church set up just next to the Pyramid Stage!
Having grown up in a vicarage, Thomas Venables knows well the call God has on the lives of Christians. He also knows the path to ordination and ministry ‘is not an easy one’ but it’s something he has always felt called to do. Following his studies in Oak Hill in North London. Thomas will serve his curacy in Marlow Bottom.
He said: “Faith is something I have always had, my parents were good at sharing God with me and my three siblings. “Marlow Bottom is a church which is seeking to reach the local area. I am really excited about that and I think it will be different from the churches I’ve known and I’ll gain a range of experience in all roles.”
Thomas will be joined by his wife Annie, and two young daughters, as well as twins who are due to be born in September!
Berkshire
When Lucy is ordained at Christ church next month, her son and daughter will also be taking part in the service – Billy and Polly will be part of the worship band.
Brought up a Catholic and educated in a faith school, Christianity has always been a part of Lucy’s life. As an adult she became a church warden and it’s from this role that she began to consider how she could serve her God.
Lucy said: “At no point in my life did I ever feel that there wasn’t someone with me along the road. I see Jesus at every crossroads beckoning me, saying, ‘hold my hand we are going this way and I am with you.
“This process also been the most scary thing I have ever done. The idea of writing an essay absolutely terrified me. It has been amazing. It took me way out of my comfort zone and now my comfort zone has been increased!”
Lucy completed her studies part-time at Ripon College Cuddesdon, alongside her job as parish administrator in Wargrave, a role she will continue once she is ordained. She will serve her curacy Binfield.
Matthew Clark heard the call to ordination as a teenager but admits he resisted it for some time. Although the ‘feeling never left him’ it wasn’t until he was in his 40s that Matthew decided to pursue ordained ministry. He was brought up as a Christian and went on to study theology at university, after switching courses in the second year. He was always involved in his local church serving where he could; leading home groups, welcoming and reading during the service.
Matthew said: “For me my faith is my whole life. It is wonderful to be in a relationship with God. It enriches life more than I can explain, more than words can say. That special relationship we all have with God, that really helps through life and sustains us.” Matthew completed his studies at Wycliffe Hall and will serve his curacy in the West Downland benefice.
He added: “I’m looking forward to getting to know the congregation in a way perhaps isn’t always possible in a bigger city church. I’m looking forward to taking part in all that parish ministry brings.” In his spare time, Matthew enjoys clay pigeon and target shooting as well as creative writing and has an interest in classic cars.
Kajsa will serve her curacy in Earley St Peter.
Oxford
Growing up on a sheep farm, it seems fitting that Sam Jones will become a shepherd of another kind when he is ordained. Sam, one of six brothers, grew up as a Christian and says his faith came alive for him in his teenaged years through his church youth group.
He said: “Gradually my faith became more real to me. I was gradually taking ownership of my faith for myself, my relationship with scripture and coming to understand who I believed Jesus was.”
Sam began worshipping at Holy Trinity Church Brompton as a medical student, a time he found ‘formative’ for his faith and relationship with the Holy Spirit. He went on to spend five years working as a doctor in the NHS. He studied at Wycliffe Hall and will serve his curacy at St Aldate’s in Oxford, as a self-supporting minister. Sam will spend part of his time working for the Relay Trust which aims to equip church leaders in the world’s poorest dioceses with the skills and resources they need to grow their Christian communities. Sam will be working with the Anglican church in Burundi in Africa.
Sam said: “My faith is my source of meaning, identity and purpose. It is what grounds me in the world and tells me the truth of who I am and what I am created for and what I have to live for. It is central to the way I see myself and the world around me and it is what gets me out of bed in the morning.”
A lifelong Christian, Dan Kim has converted the gift of faith given to him by his parents to a journey into ministry. He began his spiritual life growing up as a Christian in a Korean Presbyterian church, and came to faith in his own right in his teens.
Dan felt the call to ordination at a young age but decided to take some time to discern what that meant for him. He studied law at university and went on to work in advertising in London before returning to Oxford to study his BA and MA in theology at Wycliffe Hall.
Dan said: “My faith means everything. It is hard to say it is a hard question to answer because it is unconscionable. What I can say is, my faith really makes life worth living.”
Dan will serve his curacy at St Aldate’s in Oxford, where he will live with his wife Charlotte. His ministry will focus on young professionals in their 20s and 30s.
Dan added: “I think it is a really challenging time for this demographic. There are significant spiritual and social challenges, so how do we hold it all together? I am quite excited about it but nervous about it as well.”
Having received ‘spiritual nourishment and welcome’ at St Michaels in Summertown when she arrived in the UK as a refugee four years ago, it is fitting that it is here Anastasia Riabchuk will serve her curacy.
She said: “Having been nourished and welcomed, I’ll now return to the parish as a deacon where I can return that for the community. There is that sense of a relationship with each other, and of course, with God.” In 2021 Anastasia had begun the discernment process for ordination when her world, along with millions of other Ukrainians, was turned upside down. Russia’s invasion meant she and her young daughter fled to the UK, where they found safety in Oxford.
While she did not grow up in an especially religious home, Anastasia was baptised as a Greek Catholic and attended church with a friend. Anastasia first felt a nudge towards ordination during a year-long exchange trip to the US when she was 15. She was moved by the ceremony and beauty of the sacramental liturgy and having mentioned that to the priest, was encouraged to investigate further. Some years later back in Ukraine she was again encouraged to explore her vocation by her spiritual mentor.
As a social sciences academic, Anastasia researched and wrote about homelessness and the displaced, a section of society she has a real affinity with. She added: “My faith motivates me in trying to understand the problems these people face and express some solidarity with them.”
For Matthew, his ordination at Christ Church Cathedral will be a full circle moment as he returns to the place where he was confirmed a Christian in 2013.
Matthew grew up as a Christian but admits it didn’t really have an impact on his life until his teens. He attended an Ash Wednesday service at Sheffield Cathedral which proved to be a truly spiritual experience. This faith kindled into something stronger during his teenage years and while Matthew was at university he took the decision to be confirmed. He went on to study for a PhD at Oxford and become a Doctor of mathematics. Then, having found a church in Oxford which really drew him in with its spirituality, liturgy, community and theology, Matthew felt called to something more. He has studied for ordination as a part-time student at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, alongside his work as a maths lecturer.
He said: “My faith is the grounding that gives meaning to the rest of my life. It is the hope that keeps me going when times are difficult. It is the hope that I try to share with other people and it is the core that gives me direction.” Matthew will serve his curacy at the parish of Cowley St John and enjoys spending his spare time with his wife Naomi and son Martin.
Bethan will serve her curacy in St Matthew's Church, Oxford.
Oliver will serve his curacy at St Clement's Church, Oxford.
Dorchester
When the almost 15-year-old James Chal decided to give his life to God, he could not have imagined where that journey of faith would take him. James became a Christian as a result of being challenged by the claims of Christ to which he responded, “Lord, if you are real – please be real to me”.
Over the next two years God became real to him and answered his many prayers. Some 20 years later he felt a strong call to move overseas, where he moved jobs every few years. God used this as a ministry opportunity to enable him to set up prayer groups at every new workplace he moved to. Then James and his wife Kelly returned to the UK to serve God through his church.
James said: “My faith is everything to me. Because I love Jesus and want to serve him through his church. He has opened the doors. If you seek him and his reality, God will be real to you. God has finally made it happen with this ordination!”
James will serve his curacy at St Edburg’s Church in Bicester to support the church’s vision and ministry.
Gemma Ferrier has a pastoral heart, having spent 30 years caring for people as a nurse she is about to start caring for those around her in different way.
She said: “It has a been a slow burn. I just have never had a time when I did not believe in God. My faith has taken different shapes and different forms as I have gone through life and different life experiences.”
Gemma’s call to ministry after a career caring for people’s physical needs, came during a friends’ trip out. The friends had decided to get away from it all in the run up to Christmas 2018 when Gemma describes a strong feeling she was going to study for ordination.
Gemma said: "My faith is how I live my life. It is knowing that I am fully loved for who I am and when I allow myself to be loved for who I am then I can be the person that God has created me to be."
Gemma will serve her curacy at Woodstock and Bladon benefice where she has been based as part of her context-based course with the Queens Foundation in Birmingham. Having set up a bereavement café at the church, Gemma feels called to ‘death ministry’ and hopes to start conversations around the topic without it feeling like a taboo. When she has the time, Gemma enjoys being outside swimming, running or cycling and is planning to take part in an ultra marathon in September.
A visit to the Sea of Galilee during her discernment process, confirmed for Szabina Patel that she was taking the right decision.
She said: “As someone from another country and as a woman I did not see myself in this role. At the Sea of Galilee I had this intense spiritual moment, just sensing the presence of Jesus, that presence that was drawing people to him who were desperate.” Szabina, who was born and raised in Hungary, found her faith during her university studies, inspired by a close friend who was a committed Christian.
Following her studies, she moved to London for a gap year and started to attend church here. Following her gap year, she wanted to work in a church context and found a position working in the office of a parish church in north London. Here Szabina was encouraged to explore her calling and began the discernment process followed my studies at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford.
She said: “My faith is a personal relationship with Jesus and it is this friendship and relationship of trust that I know he is with me all the time and he carries me through this ;life. Through his eyes I can see myself for who I am and the people around me. He give meaning to my life and everything I do.”
Szabina will serve her curacy at Great Faringdon with Little Coxwell benefice where she is looking forward to pastoral ministry and building relationships with the community. She will live in the town with her husband Rahil and daughter Anoushka. In her spare time, Szabina enjoys reading, playing piano, running and cycling.
Having come to faith at a holiday club as a nine-year-old, Claire Wren was inspired by the women she saw being ordained in the 1990s to take the next step in her ministry.
Christianity has always been central to Claire’s life, and so following her university studies, she went on to complete a year-long internship with a church. She then trained to be a teacher and followed that career for three years before God called her back into children and youth ministry. It was during an interview for a children’s ministry role in 2018 that Claire first voiced her call to be ordained.
She recalls: “Once I’d said it out loud it snowballed and the next thing I knew I was talking to a vocations advisor…”
Claire added: “There are three things I’ve been certain of in my life – that I would go for the priesthood, that I would have six children, and that I would marry my husband when I met him.”
Claire followed a two-year pioneer pathway, working with a congregation in a new housing estate alongside her studies at Church Mission Society and Cuddesdon.
Claire said: “My faith to me means ultimate hope, ultimate peace; friendship with others and friendship with God.” Claire will serve her curacy at Dorchester Abbey. As the mother of six children, aged four to 19, she doesn’t have a lot of spare time but she does enjoy singing and playing saxophone in a rock covers band, The Greenway Project.
Although he grew up in a ‘good Christian home’ it wasn’t until Phil Rowlandson was in his 20s that he says he understood what Jesus had done for us.
He explained: “After uni I got involved in a church which helped me understand what Jesus really did on the cross. And I thought if the resurrection is true then all of this is and that makes a big difference to life. I understand what all that means now.”
When he was first invited to shadow the incumbent at his church in Arborfield, Phil’s immediate answer was ‘no’. Then, finding himself at the end of a job and unsure of his next step, Phil changed his mind.
He said: “The only way to answer the question ‘is this for me’ is to give it a go and I said I would give him a year… that year became two! I began to wonder if maybe I was not seeing what God could see in me. It felt like a door opening and maybe I should see what was on the other side.”
Phil then spent two years studying at Oak Hill college in London. He said: “I think faith for me means confidence, hope, assurance, satisfaction. All the things that God is and things that I cannot give to myself. He is the rock, the comforter, the supporter. He is love, he is joy, he is everything.”
In his spare time, Phil plays ultimate frisbee and spends time with his wife Heather and their three boys Ezra, Casper and Rufus. Phil will serve his curacy in Marcham with Garford, Fyfield and Tubney.
Oliver will serve his curacy in Chipping Norton.