A RECORD number of curates will be ordained at the Carlisle Cathedral this weekend.

The eight will be ordained Deacon by the Bishop of Carlisle, the Right Rev James Newcome.

Covid restrictions mean a smaller affair than might otherwise have been expected, but each candidate will be able to have 10 family members and supporters attending on the day.

The service at 2.30pm today (Saturday) will also be live streamed on both the Diocese of Carlisle and Carlisle Cathedral Facebook pages.

The group includes four health care professionals, a data analyst expert, a BBC Radio Cumbria presenter, a church pioneer worker and a multi-linguist. Seven will be self-supporting ministers (unsalaried) whilst the eighth will serve as a stipendiary (salaried) curate.

Richard Corrie, 47, will be known BBC Radio Cumbria listeners as the host of the Saturday and Sunday morning shows. He is also the station’s lead presenter for faith and worship.

He will be serving the Carlisle Rural Mission Community

Sarah Jones, 47, will be ordained on the day her son Michael turns eight. From North Wales, helping others has been part of her life.

She is married to Neville, has a daughter, Gemma, aged 12 and will serve at the Eden Wild Goose Mission Community.

Data analyst and former chorister Andrew Burrell will be serving the East of Eden Mission Community.

Dr Belinda Stanley who will also serve the Heart of the City Mission Community is a doctor specialising in sexually transmitted disease and HIV infection.

She was born in Malaya where her father was posted in the army ad has lived all over the world. She describes herself as a “cradle Anglican” because she can never remember not going to church.

Deborah Hoddinott has worked as a translator in French, German, Spanish and Dutch. She and her husband Stuart run a lighting, sound and live streaming company for schools, churches and am dram groups. Both have led worship at All Saints in Cockermouth.

They will be joined by Lucy Foster, 47 to serve the Helm Mission Community in Kendal.

Amanda Quinn, who was born in Zambia, formerly Northern Rhodesia, will join the Two Rivers Mission.

Dr Sarah Richardson will continue as a GP in Dalton-in-Furness for three days a week, while also completing her curacy at St Paul’s.

Five of the group trained locally through Cumbria Christian Learning, while two studied through St Mellitus College in Liverpool and another at the Queen’s Foundation Theological College in Birmingham.

The Rev Canon Peter Clement, Diocesan Director of Vocations, said: “This will be a wonderful day in which we can give thanks for each ordinand’s calling to serve God.

“It will be an extra special celebration for all concerned, bearing in mind the months of lockdown we have all experienced.

“On that note we must pay particular tribute to the ordinands and their tutors for the dedicated way in which they have continued their studies throughout the pandemic, moving from face-to-face learning to digital and online lectures and group work.

“Please do continue to keep them and all their families in your prayers.”

A deacon is one of the orders of ministry to which all clergy in the Church of England are admitted. Some remain deacons all their lives but most are ordained priest usually a year after being ordained a deacon.

They have a full ministry in the Church of England but, unlike priests, cannot preside at the Eucharist, pronounce the absolution or pronounce the Trinitarian blessing.

Deacons focus on a servant ministry, particularly to the poor and marginalised and more generally in the wider community.

As well as the new deacons, special services for priests being ordained are being held around the region. The Bishop will officiate at each.

The new priests are Andrew Callaway to serve Solway Plain Mission Community who will be ordained on June 26 at Holme Cultram Abbey; Lawrence Basham will be ordained the following day at St John’s Keswick; Victoria Sekasi will be ordained in Kendal that day; and Gillian Dawson from will be ordained at All Saints. On June 28 the Bishop will ordain Nina Orchard at St James’, Carlisle, and Jane Nattrass in Ambleside the next day.