50th Anniversary of Patrick’s Ministry

Talk from Sunday 27th September 2026, St. Mary’s Church, Kintbury by Patrick Whitworth

26th September 2026, is the 50^th Anniversary of my Ordination which took place in York Minster in 1976, and was conducted by Stuart Blanch who was then Archbishop of York.  I was 25 and had been three years in training at Cranmer Hall, Durham where I did a Theology degree. Previous to that I had taken a history degree at Oxford and then worked in a business for a year in London. I had little knowledge of the world! But I had clearly felt and experienced the call of God to serve him in an ordained role, my faith having come alive whilst at Oxford.

The actual day of my Ordination which in the Anglican system is two tier – Deacon the first year and a year later being Priested – was indeed awesome! York Minster for a start is splendid.  Family and friends were there to support, and there were members of the church where I would serve present too. The parish I served in had an outstanding preacher, evangelist and pioneer minister called Canon David Watson and he had an average congregation of 700! For ‘a wet behind the ears’ curate it was an overwhelming experience! But it showed me what is possible!

After three years in lovely York, I moved in 1979 to a church, which has since become well known through the Alpha Course, called Holy Trinity Brompton where I became Director of Lay Training preparing lay people to take part in leadership in the church.  Between jobs Olivia and I got married and she has supported me wonderfully over 47 of these 50 years! In the early days I helped organise an Ecumenical Mission based in the Albert Hall called “To London with Love” led by David Watson. Peregrine Worsthorne (1923-2020) gave it rave reviews in the Telegraph!  While at Holy Trinity I remember preaching on a number of important national occasions: at the beginning of the Falkland’s War making the case for a Just War, after the Harrods bomb in December 1983 and I even took a wedding in front of Princess Diana, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret who all signed the registers. But when it came time to move (1984), I went to a very different area, and different clientele, which is part of the glory of the Anglican Ministry.

We moved to Christ Church Gipsy Hill, near Crystal Palace in Lambeth and stayed eleven years. The church building had burnt down in an arson attack 18 months before we arrived. I was now 33 and we had two children, Rachel and Louisa. The challenge was to help design a new church building adjoining the church hall where we worshipped for three years. The new Church building opened in 1987, Romanesque in style – you can see it on line today! We gradually filled the building with a congregation of about 200 in all, with people from all walks of life. The church now has a significant ministry among the Iranian or Farsi speaking community there.  And later we bought back a daughter-church which had become a carpet warehouse, to turn it into a Church Community Centre. After 11 years, and now with four children including Sophia and David (spanning in all 5 to 13 years), we left for Bath Weston. We stayed there 21 years.

Weston is on the edge of the city of Bath with the main District Hospital in the parish, a large Church Primary School (about 350 pupils) where Olivia taught part time. The congregation was large about 300 adults and there were two small village churches as well. We had a big team and opened a refurbished Church Community Centre (once the village school) six years after we arrived in 2001 (and later we re-furbished the Church). In addition to teaching, preaching and schools work, I expanded my horizons  in 2002 to include overseas mission and writing.  During my Sabbatical in 2002 I indulged my love of travel, driving with a friend from Bath to Amman in Jordan and writing my first book, “Becoming Fully Human”. More journeys and books were to follow. In writing I have focussed on Biblical studies and Early Church History, for reasons I could explain. I also took members of the congregation on overseas missions -all to Africa, and did ten of these with an organisation of which I was Trustee called SOMA (Sharing of Ministries Abroad). We went at the invitation of the bishop of that area, and did a programme for his diocese.  Since 2016 we have been delighted to help out in Walbury Beacon Benefice and other parishes nearby, and meet a whole new community! So, without saying more, it has been a rich and, I hope, fruitful 50 years!

Often people ask me about the Church of England today! We obviously face many challenges today from many directions: finances, staffing (ordinations), fragmentation, disinterest and so on. But I remain optimistic: human beings are basically the same – their need for hope, forgiveness, love and a nurturing community. Christ remains the same, always active: giving grace, hope, creating a community in which we may belong and a faith in him through which we can ‘become fully human’ – that is, all he wants us to be.  My job as a minister for whatever years that remain, and the job of the church, is to bring the two together: human need and Christ’s answer. It is a lifelong mission, an adventure, endlessly interesting and never dull.  Join the party! (Luke 15:31,32).

On Sunday, September 27, we will be Celebrating these 50 years of ministry at a service of HC at Kintbury 10:00 am.

Warmest wishes
Patrick and Olivia Whitworth