Announcement of my first appointment.
Last week, as I prepared to leave Rome, I shared the news that I wouldn't be returning (at least for a few years) to my studies, and will instead be beginning a pastoral assignment. A few days before my ordination, Bishop Philip phoned me to discuss the plan for this appointment, and asked that I wait to make a public announcement until the announcements was made in the Parish. As the announcement has now been made, I am free to share the news of my first parish appointment. I will be serving as a Deacon, and eventually (God willing) as a Priest, in the Catholic Parish of Jersey!
I have been very excited about this appointment since the Bishop told me where I would be going, and desperate to share it more widely than close friends and family! Jersey, in the Channel Islands, is one of the two "Crown Dependencies" in the English Channel (the other being Guernsey) and has a long history going back to the Duchy of Normandy (the Queen is in fact still referred to as the Duke of Normandy there!). The Catholic Parish there is one of the largest and most vibrant in our Diocese, it is made up of seven Churches, ministered to by four priests (three from the Diocese of Portsmouth and one Polish Chaplain) and five permanent deacons!
I cannot wait for September to come around so I can join the community there! Please pray for me, and for the clergy and people of Jersey, perhaps with St Paul's prayer for the Colossians;
"We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God."
Colossians 1:9-10 NRSVCE
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