The Bishop of St Asaph is to visit St Michael’s Church in Kerry on Sunday (22 June) to license two new priests for Newtown and the surrounding communities.

The Revd Lorraine Turner will be joining Cedewain Mission Area as the priest serving the communities of Kerry, Llanmerewig, Bettws Cedewain, Tregynon, Manafon, and Mochdre. The Revd Chris Turner, Lorraine’s husband, will be based at All Saints’ Church, Newtown, at the new Mission Hub where he will serve as its Associate Priest alongside Canon Nia Morris.

The Rt Revd Gregory Cameron said: “We are delighted to welcome this clergy couple to their new ministries in Cedewain Mission Area. Chris and Lorraine bring a wealth of experience in ministry and I am sure they will quickly win the affection and support of the people in the churches and communities in and around Newtown.”

Lorraine and Chris met at university in west London when they were both on the same physics course. Following university, Lorraine and Chris balanced careers in teaching and research, respectively, with their Christian discipleship, until they decided to commit fully to ministry in the Church and moved to Durham to begin training for ordination. As a clergy couple, over the last 20 years they have had parishes next to each other in Lincolnshire and Kent.

Lorraine’s hobbies include playing the flute, cooking, and dancing, and Chris enjoys woodworking – making furniture, boxes and woodturning. Chris also enjoys baking cakes, but tries to restrict this for church events so as not to have too much cake at home to tempt him. Running is Chris’ main exercise to work off the cake and to spend time alone with God in the fresh air.

Commenting on their new ministries, Lorraine and Chris said: “We have really sensed the spirit of commitment and hope within the Cedewain Mission Area and are looking forward to getting to know the people and churches of the Kerry Group and Newtown as we offer our gifts to the ways God is already at work here.”

The service at St Michael’s Church in Kerry takes place on Sunday 22 June at 3.30pm. All are welcome.