St Mary's July 2018 Parish Magazine

From The Vicarage July 2018
Look out for a new arrival at St Mary’s Finedon - a curate. Curates were
once plentiful here but they grew rarer and rarer and vanished when Fr
Scorrer, who we think was the last, came back as Vicar. But no longer;
we are joined this month by Jane Burns, our first curate in sixty years?
She is no stranger to church - she was a churchwarden for many years -
and no stranger to the area - she served in that post at St Peter and St
Paul Kettering, where she lives with her husband and one of their two
children and two dogs. Jane will introduce herself to the parish in due
course, but I can tell you that her curacy will be unusual in that her
ministry is intended to be work-based, centred in and around her day
job as a fundraiser for a charity based in London, rather than in a
parish. For her curacy of course she will also serve here, but part time
rather than full time. What will it look like?
First, her time with us will be limited. Sundays and a midweek spot, but
this will have to fit round her full time employment. Second, she has just
been ordained deacon. A deacon is one of the three orders of the
church, along with priest and bishop, with a distinctive role which
involves reading the Gospel, assisting at the altar, taking communion to
the sick, and generally living out the vocation to service. Jane, God
willing, will be ordained priest next Petertide (all priests are obliged to
be ordained deacon before being priested). This means that for now,
although Jane will be wearing a dog collar and vestments - the stole
worn diagonally over the shoulder - and although she may take
baptisms and funerals, she will not be able to preside at the altar until
she’s ‘upgraded’ (it’s not really not an upgrade, but everyone thinks it
is). In a sense being a deacon is a bit like wearing an L plate, as the
curate learns the ropes - how to serve at the altar, how to conduct a
funeral visit, how to fill in a Register - on her way along the path to
ordained ministry. Of course, we’ll all be wearing L plates too as we
learn how to ensure Jane - and us - get the best out of her curacy.
With the assurance of a warm welcome we wish upon her a shower of
blessings in her new role.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Richard.
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