'Energetic and lively'

Revd Peter Bold, team rector for the ministry, said he was shocked and saddened at the news and described Carolyn as ‘incredibly energetic and lively’.

He said: “She was passionate about sharing the Good News. She was particularly active in local schools and started a monthly service at a local Alzheimer’s care home.

“People enjoyed her preaching and the way she led services and she had a wonderful talent for rallying people and getting them involved.”

Carolyn with family and friends in 2018 following her ordination as a deacon

He added: “One of the delightful things I remember is that, in preparing for her ordination and having been asked to think differently about herself, she dyed her hair blue!

“That reflected her lively and slightly rebellious nature – she always wanted to make people think.”

He urged people to hold Carolyn’s family and friends in their prayers.

'Everything a friend could be'

Fellow curate Revd Julie Lomas was a close friend of Carolyn. She said: “I feel like I have lost my sister – we had been through a lot together.

“She was up for anything – any kind of experience – and she wanted to experience the love of God in so many ways.

"And she had blue hair!

“She was forever making soup and saying ‘come over for a bowl’. We had many conversations over soup."

Julie and Carolyn met at St Thomas Brampton in Chesterfield where, says Revd Julie, “She fulfilled her original calling – starting on the road to becoming a priest – which she had held since the age of seven.

“To me, she was everything a friend could be. I just think of her and smile.”

 Carolyn with sons Aidan and Kiran, Bishop Libby and Revd Simon Taylor (former director of curate training) following her ordination as a priest in 2019