Friends and families will be joining together to celebrate our new and current lay ministers this weekend at Shottermill.
Saturday 24th June 2023 sees the Diocese of Guildford holding its annual Quiet Day and service for the licensing of Lay Ministers when Bishop Andrew Watson, the Bishop of Guildford, will admit Sarah Weldon as the newest Lay Minister in the Diocese and renew the licences of eight fellow Lay Ministers.
Sarah has completed her three years of training on the Local Ministry Programme and is now ready to join the ministry team at Shottermill. She will be working there alongside their new Vicar, Rev Tim Radcliffe, as well as fellow LLMs Louisa Mason (now also an ordinand in training) and Alan Thain.
Clergy colleagues have said “Licensed Lay Ministers are such an asset in the parishes. They lead worship and preach expertly, as well as support the clergy teams in a wide variety of ways. They conduct funerals and lead many groups as well as being chaplains and community support workers. We truly appreciate having such skilled colleagues in ministry.”
As well as celebrating and recognising the Diocese’s Licensed Lay Ministers (LLMs), the service will also take time to give heartfelt thanks for the wonderful commitment of Jane Hiley as the Diocesan Warden of LLMs. She has been an LLM in the Diocese for 30 years serving in the Parish of Ashtead and has combined that with the role of Warden for the last five years.
Jane’s role as Warden, alongside her colleague Graham Everness as Registrar, has supported dozens of Lay Ministers as they work with clergy and others to care for their parishes and the wider communities, whilst still juggling their day-to-day lives. She has chaired the LLM Board, supervised the selection process, and is part of the national Central Readers Council.
