ORDINATION is always the beginning of a fresh adventure of people being set free to be themselves and serve the church, says the Bishop of Ely.

The Rt Rev Stephen Conway has spoken of ordination in his first Diocese of Ely YouTube Channel on the Diocesan website www.ely.anglican.org.

Bishop Conway will be conducting his first ordination of deacons service in Ely Cathedral on Saturday 2 July at 3.00pm and did the interview with that Service very much in mind.

In a six minute, wide-ranging conversation about the importance of ordination to the Diaconate and priesthood in the 21st Century, Bishop Conway says: “I am really looking forward to my first Ordination Service as Bishop of Ely. All of this will happen with lots of family and friends present who will have made all of this possible.”

He says: “What the Church is doing is discerning [by the power of the Holy Spirit] that these human beings are being called to serve God in a particular way and for their humanity to be at the heart of what it means to be ordained.”

Bishop Conway believes that being called a “parson” means being recognised as a “person”: “It means being set free truly to be yourself, joyfully serving Christ in the world and looking to see the flourishing of all humanity.”

In the video the Bishop also reveals the thrill of hearing people’s individual stories as they discern the call to serve the Church in this unique way.