Historical Background
to Curates and Ordinands at St James's
The Revd. Studholme Wilson was curate for the last three years of
Revd. Fitz Wygram’s incumbency. From
1890 Revd. de Ritchie was curate for three years. The Revd.
H. Clarkson was licensed as curate of Hampton Hill by the Bishop of
London in 1894. While Revd. Job was away "fresh
cases of sickness should be reported to Mr. Clarkson who will also
witness any signatures to pension papers that may be required and
issue Hospital Orders". In 1897 Revd. Clarkson moved to
Lancashire and was replaced by the Revd. E. S. Phillips, who had already
been reading the lessons in church for about three years. After fourteen
years of service as curate, Revd. Phillips moved to Devonshire and
Revd. F. St. Clair Goldie, who was a B.A. of the University of Wales,
took his place, being ordained at the Lenten Ordination in 1914.
Revd. Goldie left in 1916 during the war and nobody replaced him.
The “necessary work cannot
be properly carried out without such assistance”
so in 1920 the Finance Committee unanimously decided to restart the
subscription list for the Assistant Clergy Fund. The Revd. F. G. Nelson
accepted the post and stayed until 1922 when the Revd. J. F. Laughton
became ‘part-time’ curate until the Revd. N. C. R. Campbell
took over the post. In November 1924
Revd. Harvey announced: "The
Rev. B. Kitchin is taking up his residence amongst us, and is going
to take his share in the services and organisations. To the Revd.
F. J. Laughton, Curate-in-charge, I owe a great debt of gratitude
for his kind help." Revd. Laughton
helped out again when Revd. Kitchin became ill, then Revd. Ernest
Richard Milton was ordained and became curate in 1926. However only
two years later, he was asked to find work elsewhere as the Parochial
Church Council were faced with a financial deficit and were unable
to raise the necessary stipend (£250 per annum) for a full time
assistant priest. Mr. Seymour Harris was made a Deacon in St.
Paul's Cathedral on 21 September 1975. A year later he was ordained
and completed his three-year 'title-period' as assistant curate. Christopher
Swift was welcomed to the parish during July 1990 as an ordinand,
a person training for the ordained ministry of the church. He was
ordained deacon in Blackburn Cathedral on 29th June 1991.
The Bishop of Kensington formally offered St. James’s a Deacon
from June 1999 for three years, which was "a
project with great potential for outreach and for strengthening our
commitment to our parish". Freda Evans accepted the position,
a stipendiary curate, which was a training appointment. Read the article
Freda's Ordination.
One of the projects she worked on was leading workshops for the children
of the parish at key points in the Christian year. Read the article
Children’s
Easter Workshop. In his role of Director of Ordinands, Revd. Leathard
encouraged Julie Gittoes to become the new curate in 2003 and she
was ordained as a deacon in the same year. Read the article Julie's
Ordination. Revd. Gittoes gained her Ph.D. in 2004.
"There cannot be many parishes in the country with two reverend
Doctors as their clergy!" She left St. James’s to
take up the post of Vicar at All Saints Church, Hampton, in 2006.
The Revd. Debbie Oades became St. James’s non-stipendiary curate
in October 2008. She had been ordained deacon in 2006, priest in 2007
and served as curate of the Good Shepherd, Hounslow. Among other things,
she instigated the formation of St. James's Ark, mentioned above.
She left St. James's at the end of 2010 to take on a full-time, paid
post as Assistant Vicar of the Parish of Maybush, Southampton in the
Diocese of Winchester. Read the article Our
New Curate. An ordinand, David Bell,
was attached to St. James's in September 2009. An ordinand is someone
who is preparing for, or undergoing the process of, ordination. Read
about David Bell.
|
