On Saturday, June 29th at Blackburn Cathedral Joe will be Ordained Deacon. The following day he will be formally welcomed to the Parish and preach at the Sunday services.
St Mary’s, Rufford at 9.15am
Holy Trinity, Tarleton at 10.45am
As part of his welcome the prayers at these services will be lead by young people from our Diamond Disciples Youth Group.
In a recent ACS Facebook post he reflects on his journey:-
“I was born in Ohio and grew up in a strong Roman Catholic family. Our faith was always very important to us, and growing up, I greatly enjoyed taking part in the life of the church and helping as an altar server. I first felt a call to the priesthood in my mid-teens, and after graduating high school at the age of seventeen, I was accepted into the local seminary. It was a wonderful time in which my faith grew, and I began to establish a more regimented prayer life which would serve me well in later life, however after a couple of years, I left to explore what felt like an equally strong calling to be a husband and father.
If we fast-forward 25 years during which I met and married my wife and we moved to the UK together, had two amazing boys, had a successful career in finance, and having found a home for myself within the life and ministry of the Church of England, I began to hear God calling me to ordained ministry once again. At that point in my life, and mainly due to my age, I had loads of reasons why this wasn’t a good idea and I told God all about them, but he didn’t listen and instead, just kept telling me to trust him. Eventually when I spoke to my vicar about what I felt God was calling me to, he told me that if I hadn’t approached him, he was going to suggest it to me. He put me in touch with our DDO, and the formal journey began…
As one on the verge of ordination, I strongly offer the following advice. To those who know someone who they think would make a good priest, please tell them so. This is something which greatly helped and encouraged me in my journey. And to those who might be entertaining even the slightest inkling that God might be calling them to ordained ministry, speak to your local priest or vocation adviser who will be able to help you prayerfully discern how God is calling you to serve.””
Joe is married to Laura and has two boys.
- You can watch him on the Diocesan Youtube Channel (@5mins)
- Find out more about Joe here as he answers questions from the Diocesan Communication Officer.
- You can watch his Ordination here.
