...And please Pray for our Priests

The 5 men and 3 women who are serving in urban parishes and rural Benefices across the Diocese from Royal Wootton Bassett in the north to Poole in the south.

And their hobbies are just as diverse, everything from Morse Code to collecting action figures.

Before entering training our new priests worked as sound engineers, police officers, maths experts, teachers and even as a pilot.

And while 6 have left their previous occupations to take on full time ministry, one of their number will still be flying his planes for a well-known travel firm.

We catch up with 2 of them below, and we will meeting the rest next week.

An airline pilot with a life-long love of Morse code, the Revd David Perry will now be juggling the day job flying for Thomas Cooke with his new role as an ordained priest in the Diocese of Salisbury.

David, who has flown for the holiday airline for 21 years, took last year off as he settled into his curacy with the Clarendon Team, Salisbury along with his wife, children and pets which include two dogs called, naturally 'Dot' and 'Dash'.

But now it is time to return to the skies and not just for work, as 56-year-old David also flies for fun:

"I enjoy sailing, cycling, walking and of course flying. I have done powered flight, gliding, hang-gliding, micro-lighting, paragliding...

"I have sailed across the Trafalgar sea area in a small boat, and I have flown a small aeroplane from America to Blackpool via Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Scotland!

"I’m a life-long radio amateur and I enjoy using Morse code. I have conversations almost every day around the world in Morse code."

And David, who is 56, says he hopes all this will prove very useful in his priestly ministry as they have during his year as a Deacon:

"My various hobbies mean that I have been able to connect with a very wide range of people to whom I now minister. I can chat about most things!"

As a newly ordained priest, David is most looking forward to celebrating the Eucharist in more than one of the Team's 8 churches in the Alderbury Deanery.

Looking back on his Diaconate year, David says the most memorable thing was "The huge privilege of being welcomed into other people’s homes."

A former Police Officer who holds the record for the largest amount of time spent as Custody Sergeant with Hampshire Police for 30 years is beginning her first year as a priest with St Mary and St Melor, Amesbury near Salisbury.

The Revd Heather Brearey, who served at Southampton Custody Centre with 36 cells, has just finished her Diaconate year in the Benefice where she really enjoyed "Serving in my community and leading people to Christ and to a deeper relationship with God."

During this first year of her ministry Heather, who was a police officer with Hampshire Police for 30 years, spoke to fellow officers at a Conference on Terrorism, giving the community perspective of dealing with the aftermath of the Novichok attack here in Wiltshire.

Aged 52, Heather moved to Salisbury Plain Benefice with her husband Mick who is also a retired police officer and one of her three children. 18-year-old Adam has just finished A Levels and is hoping to go to Bristol University to study Pharmacology. Her daughters Alice and Claire live in Nottingham and Croydon.

Heather says as a police officer she gained experience in both people skills and problem solving and has used those a lot in her curacy so far. However, she is glad that the skill of restraining difficult members of the public hasn’t been put to use in parish life.

Heather, who once put 3 escaped rams into a field full of 1000 'unused' (ie, virgin) sheep, says when she has time out from parish life she enjoys going to the gym.

She swims several times a week and enjoys walking and cycling, as well as making and eating food, and these last two skills have been put to use in the Benefice:

"Mmm, I’ve made cakes for events and I’ve eaten much cake at many events!" she said.

Please pray for all our Deacons on the occasion of their ordination to the priesthood.

The full list of those who will be ordained as priests this weekend are:

Oliver Blease       Royal Wootton Bassett, Wilts
Heather Brearey  Amesbury, Sarum
Darren Dalton      Kinson and West Howe, Dorset
Matt Lee               Wimborne St John, Dorset
Thomas Pelham  Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks, Dorset
David Perry          Clarendon, Sarum
Karen Wilson       Okeford, Sherborne

Ordinations 2019: click here for our new Deacons