Saturday 30 June saw the ordination of three new priests* at a special service in Truro Cathedral, following the ordination of seven deacons the previous evening.

In his sermon, Bishop Tim addressed the new priests and reminded them of their responsibilities in “energising, enabling and empowering” other people as disciples.

Using the metaphor of the BBC Radio programme, Just a Minute, he outlined the value of repetition as a means by which the Good News of the Gospel message can be reinforced and become a bastion of reassurance for people leading ordinary lives.

“Today,” he said, “we rejoice in the ordination of three ordinary people as priests. An essential part of our lives is doing things over and over again. We are in the business of the ordinary, of being ourselves, and just getting on with it.

“Priests speak to, and of, God,” he continued. “Our ordinariness helps us to remember God and to keep his word and work alive. Priests through their very ordinariness help other people. We must speak up, speak out – and importantly – listen.

“This morning, I am asking the three newly ordained priests to repeat themselves over and over again, and I pray that the Holy Spirit will be with them, for it is an awesome responsibility.”

And turning to the three new priests themselves, Bishop Tim concluded with the following advice, “Make sure that the Good News of the Gospel is made real in your life.”

At the ordination of the new deacons on the previous evening, the preacher, Revd Mike Searle, who had also led the pre-ordination retreat, delivered a similar message. “Do not sell God short; do not short change the people God has put in your care,” he said.

* A fourth priest, Revd Sheila Bawden, was to be ordained at a subsequent service at St Petroc’s Church in Bodmin.