There’s an old adage which holds that good things come in threes and that was certainly the case in Kilrea on St Peter’s Day (Sunday 29th June 2025), where, on an historic evening for the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe, three women were ordained by Rt Rev Andrew Forster as priests of the Church of Ireland.
In the vestry of a sweltering St Patrick’s Church, Rev’d Linda Hughes, Rev’d Eleanor Craig and Rev’d Gillian Millar fanned themselves with their orders of service before making and signing their declarations of assent in front of the Bishop and the Diocesan Registrar, Rev’d Jonathan Brown.
It was, Bishop Andrew said, a joyful occasion, and he encouraged the three women, who had followed the Ordained Local Ministry path to this evening’s service, to relax and savour the occasion as they prepared to process into the church to be priested. The church doors were left wide open to allow air to circulate among a huge congregation, comprising clergy and parishioners from many parts of the diocese.
The service was organised by the Rector of the Parishes of Kilrea, Tamlaght O’Crilly Upper & Lower (the K.I.T. Group), Rev Gary Millar, whose wife, Gillian, was one of the women being ordained. The service was led by Bishop Andrew, who was assisted by the Archdeacon of Derry, Ven. Robert Miller and Rev’d Canon Carmen Hayes (who was Bishop’s Chaplain for the evening).
In his sermon, Bishop Andrew referred to the historic nature of the service. “This is actually the third ordination in the Diocese of Derry and Raphoe this month,” he said. “I hope a historian of this beautiful church in Kilrea will be able to tell me if there has been an ordination here before. But what a wonderful setting, tonight, in this beautiful church, as we gather with the sun still shining to give God thanks for how his love has shone so brightly in the lives of Gillian, and Eleanor and Linda, and how his love shines so brightly from them. That’s what we’re here tonight to be thankful for, and we’re here tonight to thank God for the gift of ordination.”
Bishop Andrew shared the same advice with tonight’s ordinands as he did at the two previous ordination services in the diocese this month. “Pray, pray again and keep praying. And when you don’t want to pray, pray. And when you feel like giving up in praying, pray. And when you find praying hard, keep praying. Keep praying. You are called to be people of prayer. You are called to pray for the people you are serving. You are called to pray for your own ministry. You are called to pray for greater holiness in your lives. You are called to pray for the in-flowing of God’s spirit in your lives and in the lives of those people you serve. Prayer must be at the heart of all Christian ministry because without it, it is only empty words.”
Today was St Peter’s Day and the Bishop said the occasion allowed us to identify with that great leader of the church and to find lessons for each of us. “Peter’s a remarkable man. He’s a man who walked on water – and then began to sink. He was a man who confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God – he was the first man to do that – and then he denied that he ever knew [Jesus].” In Peter, Bishop Andrew said, I actually think for all of us as followers of Jesus Christ we can see ourselves. “We can see the paradoxes and the anomalies. We can see the hearts filled with the desire to serve and yet, at times, the hearts so reticent to serve. We can see ourselves in him as people so keen to speak out and yet, at times, so nervous about speaking out. But the wonderful thing is that Peter is somebody whom Jesus Christ never gives up on. And tonight we have a church full of people whom Jesus Christ will never give up on – even if you think he has, or even if you don’t think you deserve his love.”
Bishop Andrew recalled Jesus’s question to Peter: “Who do you say that I am?” It was, the Bishop said, the most important question to the soul of every man and woman. “And Peter says, ‘You are the Christ, the son of the living God.’ And from that, the Gospel just changes, it steps up a gear. And Jesus says to him, ‘You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.’
“That confession of Peter as to who Jesus was is the rock and for Linda, and Gillian and Eleanor, long ago in their lives they confessed to Christ and he has been the rock of their lives. I hope that’s true of all of us, when we have answered that question – but who do you say that I am – and our response is that ‘You are the Christ, the son of the living God.’
“Because when we say that, that confession is the rock on which we can build our lives. It is a rock that brings hope in pain, that brings light into the deepest darkness, that brings love over hatred, forgiveness over sin, cleansing from guilt, he gives purpose, he gives identity, and he allows us to grow more like him. His name is Jesus and he is the rock. Is he your rock? Is he your rock tonight? He is the rock of these three remarkable women, tonight. He is the rock of their lives. He is the rock, the foundation, on which they’re not only to build their own lives but to build the life of the church.
“You know, I often find, sometimes very uncomfortably, that Scripture – the Bible – becomes like a mirror for us. We read Scripture and we see a mirror that opens up the truth of our own lives, and sometimes that can make us uncomfortable. I see it in Peter so much: he gets it right and then he gets it wrong. He knows failure and he knows success. He knows joy and he knows pain. It sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It’s all of our lives, isn’t it?
“You know, in the challenges of ordained ministry – in the cost that is ordained ministry, as well as the privilege – all of us gathered here tonight who have the joy of being ordained know that at times we get it right and at times we get it wrong. We’ve known failure as well as success. We’ve known joy as well as pain. And that will be true for Eleanor, for Gillian and for LInda.”
Bishop Andrew said Peter’s denials of Jesus were among the most celebrated failures in Scripture. “The truth is that each one of us is a bit like Peter: we deny Jesus at times by our words and by our actions. And yet Jesus doesn’t give up on us.”
The music for tonight’s service was provided by the K.I.T. Group’s choir, accompanied by Barkley Thompson on the organ and Melissa McCombe on the piano. The readings were read by Joshua Monteith, Clara Monaghan and Valerie Ferguson.
After the service, the congregation enjoyed refreshments in 1st Kilrea Presbyterian Church Hall.
This article was sent by Paul McFadden, Communications Officer for the Anglican Diocese of Derry & Raphoe. For more information on what is happening in the Diocese, log on to: https://www.derryandraphoe.org/news/