Mrs Nicola Frances Harris will be ordained as Deacon in Bristol Cathedral on 25 November, to be Assistant Curate at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity and to be Chaplain for Housing in the Diocese of Bristol.
The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, Bishop of Bristol, will ordain Mrs Nicola Frances Harris as Deacon at a service at Bristol Cathedral on Thursday 25 November at 6pm. She will be Assistant Curate at the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity and Chaplain for Housing.
When someone is ordained as a deacon, they begin working alongside an experienced priest in the diocese, starting their first year as an assistant curate. Ordinations usually take place in July, but due to family illness, Nicola could not be ordained as originally planned. Instead, she was licenced as a lay worker and has been working at the Cathedral since the summer.
Nicola’s curacy at the cathedral includes both her ministerial role at the cathedral and her Chaplain for Housing role, enabling her to pursue her passion in considering the role of the church in enabling the systemic change needed to address the housing crisis in Bristol and the country at large.
Nicola says of her ordination: “When I first sensed God’s call to get ordained, it didn’t make sense to me as I had such a pull to represent God outside the church! However, my two lovely girls were small, I was working as an occupational therapist and God wasn’t in a hurry!
“When I came to Trinity College in 2018, I was so excited whilst still unsure of what God had in store for me after college. That was until I started to volunteer with the Bristol Housing Festival as my community placement and started to study the terrible impact the housing crisis is having on children and people in Bristol and beyond. I sensed God’s heart for those suffering in this area and His call, once again, to get involved. I could not have done this without the unfailing support of my husband, Matt, my family and friends- you are incredible xxx”.
The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, Bishop of Bristol, says: “Good things come to those who wait! It is a particular delight to see Nic ordained deacon on the eve of Advent after an unavoidable delay in the summer. Nic’s curacy both at Bristol Cathedral and as Chaplain for Housing is innovative and underlines our determination for the church in this diocese to play its part in tackling the housing crisis. Nic will be a catalyst for change and an important pastoral presence to those in need. I wish her and her family every blessing in the days ahead.”
You can read Nicola's blog about being the first Chaplain for Housing here.