Church of England launches #NewRevs campaign to highlight upcoming ordinations
[Church of England] Cathedrals and larger churches this month will host around 100 ordination services for deacons and priests from diverse backgrounds who have responded to God’s call in their lives. They will join nearly 20,000 other clergy who are actively serving communities across England.
Stories of individuals who will be ordained this summer will be shared on the Church of England’s national social media channels as part of a #NewRevs campaign. Ordinations traditionally take place on the weekend nearest to St. Peter’s Day (June 29) and at Michaelmas, which is in September.
Reflecting recent research by the Bible Society on the growth in church attendance by young people, the Rev. Sam Watkins-Smith, who is serving his curacy at Trinity Church, Nottingham, with a particular focus as a student pastor to the city’s university students, said, “I’ve had an amazing first year as a deacon. We’ve seen a bunch of students coming to faith this year for the first time or recommitting to Jesus for the first time in a long time.” Watkins-Smith will be ordained priest this summer.
Alex Sains always felt the presence of God in her life but only came back to church in the last decade. Following a career working with people with intellectual disabilities, she will be ordained deacon at Winchester Cathedral this summer. She recommends that anyone considering if God is calling them to ministry should “be open to the possibility of an alternate future.”
Some of those who support people along the road to ordination will also recall their own early vocations journeys.
Hertford Bishop Jane Mainwaring, who is the chair of the Ministry Development Board’s discernment team advisory group, recalls how she felt on her ordination day 25 years ago. “On that day it felt like coming home; that I’d finally discovered what God wanted me to do for the rest of my life.”
This is echoed by Loughborough Bishop Saju Muthulaly, who has been preparing a diocesan retreat for ordinands on the theme of ordination as homecoming. “What does it mean to come home to God, to live into the purposes to which He has called us?”
This year, Muthulaly will be ordaining deacons in St. Alban’s Cathedral. “It’s one of the greatest privileges of being a bishop to journey with people through their vocation, through their discernment of that vocation and as we ordain our deacons this year it will be the culmination of that discernment journey.”
The Rev. Anne Beverley, director of ministry at the Diocese of Blackburn who has more than 120,000 followers on TikTok, as part of the #NewRevs campaign will share a short explainer video on what happens at an ordination service .
Each of the new Revs — short for Reverend, a title used for ordained clergy – featured in the campaign will share their advice for those exploring God’s call on their lives.
The Rev. Sara Head and her hearing dog Tandy joined the community of St. Mary’s, North Mymms in Hertfordshire, as a curate in 2024. She also is assistant head at a school that provides education for deaf children and young people. Head said, “If you feel God is calling you, the best thing for you to do is to pray, ask other people, push some doors and see where God’s leading.” She will be ordained priest this summer.
Head and others share that they did not see the call to ministry for themselves at first. Muthulaly, said, “As a young person I didn’t see God’s call upon myself. Somebody asked me a simple question; ‘might God be calling you toward ordination?’”
Referencing theologian Frederick Buechner, she offers a vision of how to consider a calling to ministry, inviting us to say yes to Jesus: “What can we do that will make us gladdest?”
The Church of England recently announced major investments to support clergy wellbeing, including training for ordination, stipends and pensions.
