The Ordination
Rev Deacon’s Christopher Houghton, Paul Briers and John Bennett with Rt. Rev Paul Swarbrick, Bishop of Lancaster.
The members of the Central Council were pleased to be able to be present and to assist at the ordination to the Permanent Diaconate of Paul Briers, our Honorary President, in his home Cathedral of St Peter, Lancaster, Lancaster Diocese on 4th July.
Along with two other men, John Bennett and Christopher Houghton, he was ordained by Rt Rev. Paul Swarbrick, Bishop of Lancaster in a beautiful Mass concelebrated by members of the local clergy and the National Director of the Guild, Fr Kieth Stoakes.
Later a small gathering of friend’s, family and clergy came together for dinner to celebrate the cumulation of years of discernment and preparation for this day at Armathwaite Hall, Keswick in the north of the Lake District. Paul’s wife Liz was presented with a glass vase featuring the Guild emblem and a message of thanks from the Central Council for her support of Paul.
On Sunday the first Mass took place at Paul’s parish of Our Lady Star of the Sea and St Micheal, Workington, West Cumbria, which according to the book by Elena Curti is one the ‘Fifty Catholic Churches to See Before You Die’! The new Deacon was flanked by the Lancaster Diocese Diaconal Director of Initial Formation, Deacon Bernard Farrell-Roberts, the Parish Priest and local retired clergy.
Deacon Paul preached on the importance of churches being kept open outside of services, a circumstance which had led him to this day, when at 8 years old, he casually walked into his childhood church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, St Anne’s-on-Sea, as a non-Catholic, only child, going through a family breakdown. In that vulnerability, a seed was planted, a deep longing welled up and he started attending Morning Prayer before school. At this time he had not been baptised and the family were not church-going, yet the desire to belong to the church became strong and 5 years later at the age of 13 he was Baptised, Received, Confirmed and Received Holy Communion for the first time all in one evening, one week later he started serving at the Altar. It all began with an open church door.
Deacon Paul went on to explain that his journey to the Diaconate has not been easy. Distracted easily, not attuned to sitting for hours with a theology book, but God’s Grace does not depend on perfection. The journey of faith is an encounter of person, the person of Jesus, not one of passing exams or having all the answers, Our Lady quietly, patiently takes us by the hand and leads us to Him, ‘do whatever he tells you’. Everything happens in God’s own time, not ours, and there are times when we feel unworthy, when we push back, that God has ‘made a mistake’ in choosing us, but God remains patient and faithful.
The new Vice-President of the Guild attended and at the end of the Mass in conjunction with the Knights of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, of whom Deacon Paul is a Knight Commander (and who had had the same idea), presented him with a Deacon Stole in Red, bearing the emblem of the Guild. The Knights presented a similar Stole in white bearing the Jerusalem Cross.
After lunch it was time for Deacon Paul to conduct his first service as a principal celebrant, so with the assistance of the servers, and another local Deacon, Rev David Greaves, presided at a service of Vespers and Benediction.
Deacon Paul now focuses on his new ministry and his term of office as President of the Guild has come to a happy end, we are forever grateful for the dedication, time and expertise he has given us, and we are pleased that he has accepted our invitation to be co-opted to the Central Council and continue to work with us to move the Guild forward.
The Presidency of the Archconfraternity now falls to the Vice-President until the elections at the AGM in November.
Great days but pray for more vocations from our Servers. AMDG! Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/guildofsaintstephen/albums/72177720334646899/
First Mass Livestream Recording: https://mcn.live/Cameras/Player/277940
