Just after my thirtieth birthday, I wrote a blog called 40 before 40, where I listed 40 things I’d like to get done in the next decade… Well, it’s time to report on the first one!

Back in June, I was privileged to attend the ordination of one of my closest friends, Ashleigh. She was ordained priest in the service, a year after she was ordained Deacon. We didn’t manage to make the first service because we were away on holiday (bad timing on our part!), but it did make it extra special that we could attend the priesting. It was made even more special still, as I was invited to be one of Asheligh’s three people to be ‘up front’. The custom in Chester is that each ordinand can invite 3 people to robe and sit at the front and take part in the ordination.

Just to rewind a bit, it all works like this: when you first get your dog collar, you are a Deacon and at that service, the Bishop puts their hands on your head during the special moment. If you become priest a year later, the Bishop does the same thing, but other priests can ‘lay hands’ upon you as well. Usually, this results in a kind of ‘holy rugby scrum’ as the clergy who know the candidate best squeeze their way to the front of the huddle.

At my deaconing in 2017, I was ordained before Nathan because at that time, I was Poppy Richards. By the priesting in 2018, I was Poppy Thorpe and so I went after Nathan. I watched as the Bishop and all the others laid hands on Nathan and he became a Priest. As he stood up to walk back to his seat, the Bishop told him to stay where he was so that he could lay hands on me. He was officially a priest after all, albeit for 30 seconds! So Nathan and lots of other wonderful people, placed their hands on my head, back, shoulders and arms as I became, as it felt at the time, ‘Poppy complete’.

So wind forward 6 years, and Nathan has laid on hands at several ordinations, the first being mine, but I hadn’t! When it came to writing my blog about 40 before 40, I knew this was something that had to be on there!

So on the day, we arrived in Chester and I had bought new shoes for the occasion. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the foresight to break them in. So my feet were shredded by the time we had walked from the carpark to the Cathedral. Thankfully, Nathan ran to the shop and got me some blister plasters so I managed to hobble about for the rest of the day.

The service itself was absolutely beautiful. I had forgotten how emotional they are! The Bishop, who happens to be our former Vicar School Principal, welcomed everybody and put us all at ease. One quote that has stuck with me is ‘if you hear children making noise, just think of it as birdsong and let it wash over you’. As Sophia was in the congregation, I was relieved to hear this!

And then the actual ordination itself. There is nothing quite like seeing somebody you care for become what they’ve been working towards for many years. Ash is a kind, gentle, strong and determined person. She’s got better resilience than most people I know and she’s been there for me in some really tough times. I don’t get to see her ministering much, because she’s over in Chester and we’re here, and when we meet up it’s always on days off. But I have no doubt that she is just as warm, caring and generous in her ministry as she is to us.

My friend Ross is a blogger, and his blog is called ‘Keeping Me A Christian‘. Back in college, he wrote a series of blogs about the people in his life who help him in his journey and keep him a Christian. If I was going to write blogs like that, Ash would definitely be one of the people I’d choose!

Being with her on that special day, and one of her three, with her husband and Mother-in-law, was such a privilege. A priesting is the culmination of so much prayer, discernment, hard work. To get to that point takes so many conversations, essays, sermons, emails, and services. There are late nights, heated debates and moments of huge doubt. An ordination comes after much joy, frustration and risk. You have to be so vulnerable and open to get to that point. On Ash’s priesting day, I was proud, delighted and really very honoured. What a joy!

Photo taken from a screenshot of the livestream from Chester Cathedral Youtube Channel, 10th June 2023.