I was ordained as a Catholic Priest by Bishop Paul in his Cathedral Church on Saturday 28th June 2025 after over forty years’ service as an Anglican priest. It was a deeply moving experience, one which has come as an unexpected joy: just as I thought my ministerial life was coming to an end, it has entered a new and exciting chapter. 

I was born into a Christian family. My parents attended a Baptist Church, and it was there that I learned habits of Christian life which remain with me to this day; here, also, my vocation to ministry was encouraged. While in the sixth form I had something of a crisis in faith and began to explore other, less Evangelical forms of faith. I found inspiration in Catholic and Anglican sources and was eventually confirmed in the Church of England. I attended an Anglican Church with an Anglo-Catholic tradition and learned to value the sacramental and liturgical life of the Church, and devotion to the Blessed Virgin.

Early in my undergraduate days I was selected for training as an Anglican priest and began seminary training after a year teaching RE in a large Comprehensive School. Most of my ministry as an Anglican priest was devoted to teaching and researching Theology in Colleges and Universities, but I also held several posts as an honorary parish priest, serving mostly in rural parishes. Throughout my time as an Anglican, I had the support of my wife, Catherine. We have four sons, three of whom are married, and two grandsons. Faith and family life have been and remain the bedrock of my life.

After retiring from my University work, I returned to full-time parish ministry in Workington, on the West Coast of Cumbria. I was asked to lead the Carlisle dioceses’ education programme for ministry. I began to feel that my true spiritual home lay in the Catholic Church. I had long since ceased to believe and pray as a Protestant Christian. I think two things helped me to make the cultural leap towards reconciliation with the Catholic Church: first, my use over many years of the Divine Office and secondly the active support and encouragement of Catherine. We were received into the Church on Ascension Day 2021 by Canon John Watson. It felt like a wonderful homecoming and has been exceeded only by my great joy upon receiving the gift of Catholic priesthood. I am grateful for the warmth of support I have received from family, friends and the clergy and parishioners of the parish of Christ the Good Shepherd, Workington.