Brighton and Hove priests and deacons ordained

Nineteen men and women have been ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Chichester in the past week and 16 have been ordained as deacons.

Those newly ordained as priests include the Reverend Mark Lyon, of the parish of St Michael’s and St Paul’s, in Brighton, and the Reverend Talisker MacLeod, of All Saints, in Hove. They were ordained as deacons a year ago.

This year for the first time men and women were ordained as priests together in a service at Chichester Cathedral by Assistant Bishop, the Right Reverend Christopher Herbert. Talisker MacLeod was among them.

Mark Lyon was ordained at St Wilfrid’s Church, in Bognor Regis, by the Acting Bishop of Chichester, the Right Reverend Mark Sowerby.

Bishop Mark also ordained the new deacons. They include Rory Graham, a married father of three, who will serve as a curate at Bishop Hannington Church, in Hove.

Two people from Brighton and Hove will serve parishes outside the city.

One is Helen Rose, a teacher and mother of two who will be based at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Shoreham Beach.

The other is Simon Horton, who will serve in the parish of St Mary and St Laurence, Goring.

Bishop Mark said: “This year’s ordinations mark the very promising beginning to the ministries of new deacons and priests.

“They are the source of much celebration and hope for the future in the parishes where they will serve and in the Chichester diocese as a whole.”

Photographs by Jim Holden