I Was Ordained Exactly Forty Years Ago
I must have been a child ordinand, eh? Not really…😛
Isn’t it curious how the smallest things can ignite a flood of memories?
Just the other day, I stumbled upon a Facebook post from a former minister from our current church, celebrating his 25th ordination anniversary. This prompted me to realize something significant that could have easily slipped my mind — that this past Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of my own ordination.
On Sunday, June 30th, 1984, a fresh-faced lad from Bradford, not a single grey hair to be seen, knelt before the then Bishop of Bradford and was ordained as a minister in the Church of England.
If I had a photo, I would post it — but it was in the days before everyone snapped these things on their phones…
I distinctly remember waking up that morning at the end of a four-day retreat in the serene Yorkshire Dales at the Diocesan Retreat House, pondering the monumental step I would take. It was a silent retreat, a time of deep reflection and isolation, devoid of any contact with the outside world, let alone the Internet, which didn’t exist back then.
