Graham Adamson will be among those being ordained at Truro Cathedral at Petertide.

Graham and his family have returned to Cornwall in time for the services having just finished studying at Trinity College Bristol.

Graham said: “When we left Camborne to train in Bristol in 2016 we really didn’t know if we would be coming back, but it didn’t take long to realise where God was calling us to be. Despite completely loving the city we knew our hearts – and His heart – were calling us back to Cornwall.”

Specifically Redruth where Graham, his wife Mej-Brit and three young children will live. “What I’m looking forward to is being surprised by what God is up to in Redruth, especially in mission to the margins and young families.”

Graham says that it was during his training as a youth worker that God put Cornwall on his heart but it took him another few years to finally get here.

“First, I followed a call to Germany in 2001, where I completed my training with a schools work project. I met Mej-Brit there and worked for another five years as the youth pastor of a Pentecostal church in Mönchengladbach. A huge thing on my heart during this time was teaching and encouraging the younger generations to realise their potential in Christ and to grow into their vocations.”

It was then that Graham and Mej-Brit decided to test a call to come to Cornwall. “We drove and prayed though the county at the start of 2007, asking God to show us which door he was opening. We were led to Camborne Wesley church and the start of our first Cornwall adventure.”

Graham says that although he sensed a call to ordination, he had not acted on the idea. “In all the years of youth ministry before I had always held the idea at arm’s length, not wanting to view my work with young people as a “stepping stone” to “proper ministry”. I am still determined to see the whole church moving into its calling, and for the vast majority of the congregation that means in the workplace.”

He went on to work as a team member of Ambassadors for Christ and in so doing reach across denominational lines to further help develop local unity in mission through HOPE Cornwall. Drawing on the strength of unity of youth missioners from across the denominations and across the Duchy, the HOPE mission was really fruitful. “We even hosted Archbishop Justin Welby at a youth event in Truro – at the Baptist church!”

A passion for faith development and discipleship led Graham to work with South West Youth Ministries (SWYM) as the Cornwall Area Coordinator. “It was such a great privilege to teach, mentor and accompany young youth leaders as they wrestled with theology and mission in the context of their placement churches. It is such a powerful model of enabling theological education, combining teaching with real life practice.”

But it was while at Soul Church Porthtowan that Graham sensed God was calling him to explore leadership within the Church of England.

“Leading worship at Soul Church Porthtowan was another pivotal season for me as I saw the transforming relationships of the gospel lived out in a community of people who wanted to love Jesus and each other – life together, as Bonhoeffer would put it.”

Following his ordination, Graham is keen to get started. “Studying at Trinity College Bristol gave me the chance to study in-depth with some fantastic scholars and pastors and I have come away with an increased appreciation of the breadth and heritage of the Church of England but now I am hungry to get back into mission.”