A bridal-wear and theatre-costume designer is among those being ordained by the Bishop of St Asaph on Saturday (29 June). Beci Kelly, from Clawddnewydd near Ruthin, will be ordained as a Deacon in the Church in Wales and will be based in churches in the Denbigh Mission Area.

Beci, who has two grown-up sons and a large extended family, says she has been running away from the idea of being ordained since her teenaged years. “I was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and went to a Catholic School. I experienced a tremendous sense of bliss during Mass one day when I was 15. I knew I could never become a nun as I wanted to be a Mum. I left the Catholic Church before I left school and joined the local Anglican Church in Buxton where I grew up. Seven years ago, I knew I could no longer run away and that still small voice, become a shout! Now, I am looking forward to connecting with people in Denbigh, forming new communities and developing new projects.”

Beci will be joining a former painter and decorator, a nurse and a musician who are among those being ordained as priests at the same service. The full list of priests-to-be is:

• Emma Dale, based in the Alyn Mission Area, near Wrexham,
• Ana Evans, based in Alyn Mission Area,
• Wendy Gardner, based in Cedewain Mission Area, near Newtown,
• Kathryn Hall, based in Estuary & Mountain Mission Area, which includes Holywell and Flint,
• Hugh Richardson, based in Hope Street, Wrexham,
• Cass Meurig Thomas, based in Valle Crucis Mission Area, which includes Llangollen, Corwen, Bala and the Ceiriog Valley.

The service of ordination will take place on Saturday 29 June at 10am. It will be live streamed and you can access the service at https://dioceseofstasaph.org.uk/ordinations/

The service will be led by the Bishop of St Asaph, the Rt Revd Gregory Cameron. He said: “I am always amazed to see how people from very different backgrounds carry to priesthood a huge range of gifts and talents. The ordinations on 29 June will be a celebration of talents and skills being put to the service of the church and the world.”

Before the service, all the candidates for ordination go on a retreat to St Beuno’s in Tremeirchion. It will be led by Archbishop Ian Ernest, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Personal Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. Archbishop Ian welcomes pilgrims and Anglicans from all over the world to Rome. He will also preach during the ordination service.

All are welcome to the ordination service at St Asaph Cathedral on Saturday 29 June at 10am and candidates appreciate support from their local churches and communities.

The Diocese of St Asaph stretches from Llandudno in north-west Wales across to the Wales/England border and down to Newtown in Powys.  It is one of the six dioceses of the Church in Wales, an autonomous Province of the worldwide Anglican Communion.