This weekend we are celebrating the ordination of a new group of priests and deacons. Ordination is the Church’s official recognition of a person’s sense of calling to be a priest or deacon and this first step into ordination gives them the authority to do certain things in the name of God and the Church.
This newest generation of clergy joins others in leading churches through prayer, teaching and worship, furthering the mission of the Church, to be a Church for all people and for all places. Traditionally, most ordination services take place at the end of June, during Petertide, a feast day marking the martyrdom of Saint Peter, the fisherman, who as a disciple of Jesus was an instrumental figure in the early Church.