Items filtered by date: May 2025

Reader Training

For all initial enquires about Reader Ministry in the Diocese of Derby, please contact:

See also: What is a Reader? | Becoming a Reader | Readers Handbook | Reader Returns and Reviews | Reader Licence Renewals

The Church of England takes its responsibility to select and train readers very seriously.

You may be called to become a Licensed Lay Minster (Reader).

An reader is a lay person who, following a call from God, is trained and licensed by the Anglican Church to teach the faith, enable mission and lead in church and society.

Readers are uniquely equipped to enable Christians to live out their Christian faith in the places where they spend the majority of their time.

As people who daily move between the worlds of work, home, social networks and church, readers can teach the faith and play a part in leadership such that all God’s people grow in confident and humble witness to God’s kingdom.

This ministry involves working together with an incumbent.

It can also include pastoral care, funeral ministry, and involvement in many other aspects of leadership in church and society – it now encompasses just about every area of ministry in the church apart from ordination! Watch the short video below to see how some LLM(R)s are living out their ministry (the last one, Emily, is from our Diocese).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqYC20Dtgwo&t=31s

If you feel you'd like to explore a calling to reader ministry please hop over to our dedicated reader training course website here or contact Revd Dawn Glen (dawn.glen@derby.anglican.org) for more details.

Once training begins, students go on placement in their home parish and their incumbent is expected to offer appropriate supervision and opportunity to develop new skills, preach and take part in leading worship. 

Students also do an external placement in a different setting.

For further informaiton, please contact Revd Dawn Glen - dawn.glen@derby.anglican.org or visit www.discipleship-training.org.

I was born in Retford in Nottinghamshire, but moved to Kettering in Northamptonshire aged 5.  I worked for may years in the newspaper industry in Northamptonshire and then in Suffolk, before moving to Nottinghamshire 10 years ago.  Since then I have completed a degree, masters degree and trained to become a secondary school teacher and I now work at Queen Elizabeth's Academy in Mansfield where I teach Health and Social Care, Child Development, Sociology and RE.  I will be continuing to work full time following ordination.

I will be serving at St Mary and St Laurence in Bolsover.  'I am looking forward to my new role as curate and working with Rev Rachel Gouldthorpe and immersing myself into the life and work of the church.                         

In my spare time I enjoy long walks with my black labrador, Basil.  

I’m Carla Vicencio Prior. I’m 44, I’m married to Nick and we have two children. I’m Portuguese, but moved to the UK in 1985 and have lived here (on and off) ever since.  Before training for ministry, most of my working life was spent in a business context, mostly marketing and market research and running my own small business.

I was born and brought up in Brighton, and moved to Solihull in the West Midlands in 1980, and then on to Lincolnshire in 2000.  In 2009 I remarried, and moved onto my wife’s farm in Derbyshire in 2009.  I have a son who lives in Bristol with his family, his wife Fiona and their children Isabella 3, and Charles (Charlie) born on 14^th April this year.  I have retired from paid employment and I keep myself busy by pottering around the family farm, getting more involved in church work and driving as a volunteer for Community Transport.  Before I retired I worked formerly as an Internal Auditor and latterly in resident involvement making sure that tenants of Local Authorities and Housing Associations have a voice in the organisations that they are tenants of.

Black Sheep and Crooked Spires

Hilary Moore, is to be ordained as a Self-Supporting Pioneer deacon at a service in Ashbourne on Sunday July 5^th. She will serve her curacy at the Order of the Black Sheep in Chesterfield with a secondary placement at St Mark’s and SS Augustine’s, also of Chesterfield.

Alan Griggs, 43 is to be a self- supporting Curate at St Barnabas, Derby after being ordained Deacon by the Bishop of Derby, the Rt Revd Dr Alistair Redfurn , at a service in St Oswalds Church, Ashbourne on Sunday  5th July  at 10.45am.

Marian Brookes, a former Reader, is to be ordained Deacon by the Bishop of Derby,

Alastair Redfern, at a service in St Oswald's Church, Ashbourne on Sunday July

5^th. (10.45am)   Marian will serve her curacy as a self-supporting LOM in the Parish of All Saints Church, Ripley.

Marian lives in Ripley with her husband Jim.  They have two married daughters and four lovely grandchildren who make them laugh and keep them in touch with the ever changing culture of our time!  Both Marian and Jim have retired from careers in education. 

A lifelong Christian, I grew up just outside Glasgow with my parents, brother and sister.  By my mid teens, I was immersed in Christian groups, leading Bible studies, giving talks at my school Scripture Union group, which I chaired for my last two years there, and helping lead various children’s holiday clubs and camps.  Since then, I have been involved in leading children’s clubs and youth groups fairly regularly, though there has been a gradual switch to leading adult groups over time.