The Bishop of St Asaph is to licence a new priest for the Alyn Mission Area with pastoral responsibility for Llay, Rossett, and Is-y-coed.

The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron will visit All Saints’ Church, in Rossett on Saturday (6 September) to licence the Revd Tracey Byrne.

Tracey and her partner Sandy move to Llay from Nottingham where Tracey has been in ordained ministry for the past six years. Tracey trained for ordination at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, just outside Oxford, and then moved to Nottingham to serve her curacy.

Tracey is excited to be coming to the Wrexham area where she has strong family links. Tracey herself was born in Coventry, but involvement in the Young Farmers’ movement, including teenage years spent on a farm in Llangollen, inspired her to study Agricultural Economics at Wye College as her first degree.  A career in social work and the voluntary sector followed, first in London and then Swindon.

More recently Tracey has worked as a chaplain at an Anglican university in Lincoln, then at a large general hospital in Mansfield, both of which she enjoyed greatly. Immediately prior to ordination, Tracey ran the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, now called OneBodyOneFaith.

In her spare time Tracey enjoys swimming and all forms of needlework, and she is also in the (slow) process of restoring a 1975 Viking vintage caravan.

Welcoming Tracey to the Diocese of St Asaph, Bishop Gregory said: “Tracey brings a wealth of experience of ministering to people in a wide variety of contexts, and championing justice and inclusion.  It is good to see her retracing her roots and making her home amongst us in northeast Wales.”

The service to welcome and license Tracey will take place on Saturday 6 September at 3.30pm at All Saints’ Church, Rossett. All are welcome.