Meanwhile three others will be ordained Priest at the same service, having been ordained Deacon last year. They are:

• Sheryl Haw to serve Carlisle Rural Mission Community
• Allison Lee to serve Brampton Deanery Area Mission Community
• Andy Ward to serve Kendal Helm Mission Community

From today (Wednesday 24 June) all the ordinands will take part in a retreat at Rydal Hall, the Diocesan Christian Retreat and Conference Centre, which will be led by the Rev Canon Angela Whittaker, Vicar of St Cuthbert’s and St Aidan’s in Carlisle and the Bishop of Carlisle’s Adviser for Women’s Ministry in the Diocese of Carlisle.

Bishop Rob said: “The Petertide Ordination service is always a particular highlight for me. I still vividly remember my own ordination at Carlisle Cathedral, the sense of excitement and the weight of expectation and responsibility it carried.

“It is an honour to serve and minister in communities across our wonderful county, yet this also brings with it challenges and demands. So, we give thanks to God for our ordinands who have prayerfully discerned God’s call to step up to the task and to see His Kingdom flourish throughout Cumbria.

“I give thanks for their calling and commitment and for the support they have received from their families and friends. May I encourage people to pray for them and for their families as they step out in joy, humility and faith to help people become disciples of Jesus Christ and to seek the beauty and hope of the kingdom of God in those places they will serve.”

Deacons’ Summary Profiles

Louise Cox O’Shea – Furness Mission Community
Louise, 46, is married and has four children aged between eight and 14. Since qualifying from Liverpool University in 2004 she has worked as a vet, initially in north Wales and Manchester, before returning to her native Cumbria. She was brought up as a Christian and has always been involved with the church. When her oldest child was a baby, her calling to support children and young people’s ministry began to grow. She runs a Messy Church for children and families and developed a ‘Mossy Church’ in the south of the county, through which children could explore faith and spirituality outdoors and in woodland. Louise has previously completed a Pioneer Certificate and felt further called to explore ministry, leading to her training for ordination through Emmanuel Theological College where she also shadowed a mental health chaplain as part of her alternative placement. She says her job as a vet is also a calling and so she will minister part-time in a self-supporting capacity whilst working within the veterinary sector. She says she has a particular passion to draw alongside those people who are ‘on the edge’ and who may not necessarily attend church regularly. A keen runner, she is to compete inthe Windermere marathon and the 5 Valleys Ultra mountain marathon, raising money and awareness for her church's youth work and the Vets in Mind charity that supports mental health within the vet profession. She will serve in the Furness Mission Community.

Louise says John 1:5 (‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’) undergirds the belief that God’s church is not in decline in the UK and that His light will continue to shine in all places.

Jo Daly – Two Rivers Mission Community
Jo, 59, was born in Birmingham and raised in Worcestershire, before attending medical school in Sheffield. After qualifying and initially training as an A and E consultant, she became a GP in inner city Birmingham in a partnership with other Christian doctors. About 15 years ago she moved to Cumbria and works in a Carlisle GP practice as well as being a medical director of a not-for-profit organization running GP practices in more deprived areas of north Cumbria. Jo is single and lives in Carlisle with her sister and has two nieces. She can’t remember a time when she didn’t believe in God. Although confirmed when 12 she says she had very little understanding and came to a personal faith in Jesus just before attending university. Since moving to Cumbria, she has attended St James Carlisle. Jo previously led the medical team at the New Wine Christian festival and says that was hugely influential in her bringing together her clinical work and her faith. She says her discernment journey to ordination took four years – as she emerged from quite a prolonged period of spiritual dryness - prior to her training at Emmanuel Theological College for two years. She will be a self-supporting minister, committing to a day of church-based ministry each week whilst also working three days a week in the GP surgery and as a medical director. She will serve in the Two Rivers Mission Community.

Jo says Ephesian 3:16-19 has been important for her own faith journey and call to future ministry (‘And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,’).

• View a podcast with Jo here: Jo Daly Podcast.

Rachel Milburn – Penrith Mission Community
Rachel, 51, was born and raised in east Cumbria. She lived with her parents and two sisters on a farm in Brough before marrying when she was 21 and moving to a farm with her husband in North Stainmore. The couple have three daughters. Faith has always played a central part in Rachel’s life though for a few years during her teenage years she stepped away due to Sunday work commitments. Rachel began work as an office manager for a joinery business and then, after children, she worked in her mum’s ice cream parlour at Brough Castle Farm. She felt called to do more volunteer work and after helping out with Network Youth Church she eventually became an NYC leader. In 2018, Rachel began to explore a call to ordained ministry, initially completing a Pioneer Certificate and further training with Church Mission Society. Her ministry with young people has seen her develop various groups including a Let’s Talk group for pupils at Kirkby Stephen Grammar School. She also runs a weekly reflective walking group as well as developing a women’s support group. After passing both stages of the ordination panels, Rachel went on to train for three years at Emmanuel Theological College. She will serve as a stipendiary curate in the Penrith Mission Community.

Rachel says Proverbs 3: 5-6 has guided her on her pathway to ordination – ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight- and highlights the need for wisdom as well as speaking to love and faithfulness.

• View a podcast with Rachel here: Rachel Milburn Podcast.

Sue Wigley – Heart of Westmorland Mission Community
Sue, 58, is married to Clive. The couple have grown-up twins - Seb and Harriet – and live in Morland. She was born and raised in Herefordshire and moved to Cumbria in 1996. She began work in the civil service before moving into senior leadership roles in the charitable sector. She was Executive Director for the Oaklea Trust, supporting disabled and disadvantaged people across the north of England. She came to faith in the late 1990s and was baptized and confirmed as an adult in her local parish church. As part of her discernment journey, she undertook the Diocese of Carlisle’s Called To Serve course before completing ordination training through Emmanuel Theological College. Sue has previously been a Deanery Synod Lay Chair as well as Vice Chair and Trustee of the Carlisle Diocesan Board of Finance, and has been a member of several Parochial Church Councils. She chose to step back from her charity role to concentrate on training for ordination and is currently a part-time administrator for Appleby Deanery. She is also a foundation governor at Morland Area C of E Primary School. In her spare time, Sue walks her dogs -a dachshund and labradoodle – and has been a lifelong fan of Manchester United football club. She will serve as a part-time self-supporting minister in the Heart of Westmorland Mission Community.

Sue says various Bible verses have resonated with her during training, pointing to John 20: 21 as she approaches ordination, ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’

• View a podcast with Sue here: Sue Wigley Podcast.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Click on the respective Mission Communities links for further parish details.

Please note that the photographs should be attributed to the Diocese of Carlisle.

For further information please contact Dave Roberts, Diocesan Head of Communications, on 07469 153658 or at communications@carlislediocese.org.uk.