On 11 June at 3.30 pm, the Cathedral will be holding a special service of Evensong to celebrate 60 years of Self Supporting Ordained Ministry in the Church of England. All licensed clergy, and those with Permission to Officiate, are invited to attend.

When the Church of England came into being in the 16th century, all licensed priests had to be full time, although they could also be engaged in teaching, publishing or, curiously, as a farmer of up to 80 acres. It wasn’t until 1963 in the Diocese of Southwark that the first non-stipendiary priests were ordained. Today, approximately 34% of all licensed clergy are self-supporting. Some of them are in full time employment, while others are part time or retired, some hold incumbent status, others work as ‘ministers in secular employment’ (MSE’s) seeing workplace, rather than parish, as their primary focus of ministry and mission.

All Self-Supporting Ministers are fully trained priests, but choose to work collaboratively alongside incumbents as assistants, offering what time they can for the mission of the church. Increasingly in this diocese, self-supporting ministers are trained on the Auxiliary Ordination Pathway which emphasises a new pattern of education, and a culture of lifelong learning.

The Rev’d. Tony Redman, Bishops Advisor for self supporting ministry and co-convenor of the National SSM advisors Network, says of the service at the Cathedral, “This is an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate both the diversity of ministry Self-Supporting Ministers deliver, and their contribution to mission and ministry in this diocese.”

Self-Supporting Ministers are a diverse group of people. Some are self-employed, others have expertise at the highest level of corporate management or work in the health and education sectors, others are carers or homemakers, each offering their particular skills to enrich the wider ministry of the church.

Bishop Martin will lead the service. He said, “Self-Supporting Ministers play a crucial role in building up the life of the Church across the Church of England. In Suffolk, we are blessed with a great number of dedicated self-supporting priests who serve in parishes and other contexts across the whole diocese. We have also seen an increasing number of people discerning a call to ministry as self-supporting ministers and from a wide variety of backgrounds and contexts.”