The Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Philip Mountstephen, presided over the service of licensing, which is the Anglican ceremony conducted when a new priest takes charge of a set of parishes and makes a declaration of their faith as well as promises of allegiance to the Queen as Head of the Church of England, and of obedience to the bishop.
Also officiating was The Ven. Kelly Betteridge, Archdeacon of Bodmin, and the Rural Dean of West Wivelshire parishes, The Revd Stephen Morgan.
Representatives of the different parishes attended the service and also took part in proceedings, with the Mayor of Looe and teachers and children from Duloe School being among those standing to give messages of welcome to new priest in charge Rev Ben and his wife Lindsey. Churchwardens also played significant roles in the service.
The Bible readings were from Isaiah 43: 15-21 and Ephesians 4: 1-13 and in his sermon, the Bishop explained the context of these passages and also how both encapsulated the message of the need to embrace change rather than always looking back to the past, and also of the need to work together, both as parishes working together but also as individual church members helping to support the work of their new priest.
This was appropriate given that Rev Ben’s appointment was to a new grouping of parishes and benefices.
There were some light-hearted moments such as when Rev Ben went with the Bishop to sign documents of registration and allusions were made to the fact that he was formerly a solicitor and so never signed anything without reading it through first.
There were also allusions to the recent Will Smith episode when Rev Ben said he “wouldn’t be making an Oscar-winning speech”.
The service was followed by a delicious buffet of pasties, sandwiches and cakes as well as hot and cold drinks, with members of the different church congregations contributing the food on offer.
Introducing himself in the service booklet, Rev Ben says: “I am a Cornishman, spending my childhood in Grampound and having lived with my family in Truro and Falmouth since 2005. I came to faith as a student in London, and my ministry is focused on mission and evangelism – encouraging and training disciples in local parish churches to be good news in their communities and I am really excited to serve the four Parishes and communities as your Priest.
“I am married to Lindsey, an artist and pioneer who works part-time for Truro Diocese. We have three children, Theo and Beth, who are both at University, and Grace, who is finishing A-Levels at Truro College. We also come with two dogs, Addy and Eva, who keep us busy enjoying all the outdoors that Cornwall has to offer. I love everything outdoors and cooking, reading science fiction and watching films.”
After the service Rev Ben told me he had first started on the road to ordination six years ago and had begun the process at theological college in Oxford. He was more recently a curate in the Falmouth area, and some of his friends made there attended the inauguration service.