A woman curate has become the UK's youngest priest.
At just 22, Reverend Jude Davis began preaching from her parish, Doncaster Minster, Yorkshire.
She studied Theology at Cambridge University for three years before being ordained into the Church of England two years ago.
She is one of just 11 per cent of full-time Church of England clergy under the age of 40 in Britain.
Jude, now 24, said: ‘A lot of what I do is very specific to where you are working as you have to know the people.
‘I try to support local schools and colleges and help youngsters who may be facing tough challenges in their lives.
‘My favourite part of the job is probably when people come to us for the occasional things such as weddings or funerals.
‘They are important events in people's lives and they are very special as they invite you into their lives.
‘You can share their good times but at the same time help them through really bad times, while offering guidance and support.
‘It's very rare that in today's society that people give you an invitation to talk to you about your faith and to talk about God and Jesus and it's nice to take that opportunity without abusing that trust.’
At
just 19 years old, Jude, from Sheffield, Yorkshire, was forced to go
through a nine-month interview process to ensure she was right for the
role.
She undertook years of training before becoming a curate, and in the second year of her curacy became a priest.
She said: ‘It's a very rigorous selection process - you have to go through a series of interviews with different people, both locally and nationally.
‘You do a number exercises and presentations to check that you are right.
‘At
any time throughout the process, the Church can say no to you if they
feel you don't suit the position, but luckily they kept letting me
through.’
Jude had set her heart on becoming a priest at just 17, while studying for her A-levels.
‘I was brought up in a Christian household, went to a Church of England school and was encouraged to follow the Christian faith,’ she said.
‘It was normalised to me and it felt like a normal way of life.
‘I was lucky because there were a lot of young people in my church so for us it was normal to go to church and lead a religious lifestyle.
‘I knew I wanted to work with people and needed variety to keep me interested so I knew becoming a priest was a realistic choice.’
Jude has only recently discovered she is the youngest priest in the UK, after Canon Dr Paul Shackerley, who she supports, checked the Church of England official records.
She said: ‘I suspected for a while that I may be the youngest as it's very obvious when you're lined up with a load of middle aged men!
‘I have friends who I trained with who are close to my age but I was younger than them all.’
With the profession becoming increasingly popular in younger people, Jude is fully supportive of others entering the Church earlier in life.
She said: ‘I think if this is something they want to do when they are 19 or 20 they should do it.
‘Although young priests have less life experience, it's good to be young in the job as you can relate to younger people.
‘You do need people who enter the faith at the age of 40, but it's good to have a mixture of both.
‘It's nice being this young and doing something I know is right to me, while I know I'm making a difference.’
A Church of England spokesman said: 'Jude is part of an increasing trend in the Church of England towards younger people coming forward to train as priests.
'In 2012, 22 per cent of those coming forward were under 30, the highest number for the past 20 years.'
All clergymen start out as curates, and can progress to become priests after two years in curacy.
Later in their careers they have opportunity to become vicars or rectors, then deans or archbishops.
The UK's youngest person to be ordained is Adam Young, of Saltburn, Yorkshire, who became a curate at the age of 23.
At just 22, Reverend Jude Davis began preaching from her parish, Doncaster Minster, Yorkshire.
She studied Theology at Cambridge University for three years before being ordained into the Church of England two years ago.
Jude Davis has become the UK's youngest priest
at the age of 24 and is part of a growing trend of young people joining
the clergy
24-year-old Jude Davis is able to perform weddings, funerals and baptisms as well as ordinary services
Her
role as the UK's youngest priest involves taking services, conducting
weddings, funerals and baptisms and preaching at St George's Church in
Doncaster.
She is one of just 11 per cent of full-time Church of England clergy under the age of 40 in Britain.
Jude, now 24, said: ‘A lot of what I do is very specific to where you are working as you have to know the people.
A rigorous nine-month selection process and two years of training is required for those wishing to become a priest
Reverend Jude Davis at her parish, Doncaster Minster, Yorkshire, is the youngest Church of England priest in the UK
‘My favourite part of the job is probably when people come to us for the occasional things such as weddings or funerals.
‘They are important events in people's lives and they are very special as they invite you into their lives.
‘You can share their good times but at the same time help them through really bad times, while offering guidance and support.
‘It's very rare that in today's society that people give you an invitation to talk to you about your faith and to talk about God and Jesus and it's nice to take that opportunity without abusing that trust.’
Reverend Jude Davis studied Theology at Cambridge University for three years before being ordained into the Church of England
She undertook years of training before becoming a curate, and in the second year of her curacy became a priest.
She said: ‘It's a very rigorous selection process - you have to go through a series of interviews with different people, both locally and nationally.
‘You do a number exercises and presentations to check that you are right.
Jude Davis says her favourite part of being a priest is performing weddings and funerals for people in her parish
Jude had set her heart on becoming a priest at just 17, while studying for her A-levels.
‘I was brought up in a Christian household, went to a Church of England school and was encouraged to follow the Christian faith,’ she said.
TITLES OF THE CLERGY
There are three orders of clergy :
deacons, priests and bishops.
Deacons conduct services, visit the sick,
can baptise, take funerals and so on.
Priests can do all of a deacon's
ministry with the addition that they can absolve from sin, give God's
blessing and bless the bread and wine at Holy Communion.
Bishops can do all of a deacon and priest's ministry but can also confirm and ordain.
All other 'ranks' are administrative.
A curate is a deacon or priest who is assistant to a parish priest either permanently or as a trainee.
Vicars and rectors are priests in charge of a
parish and have
pastoral responsibility to everyone in the parish whether church members
or not.
A
Canon or Prebendary (depending on the tradition of the diocese) is a
vicar who has been given an honorary title and a seat in the Cathedral
chapter in return for preaching at the Cathedral once or twice a year,
acting as a chaplain and other duties.
The Dean of a cathedral is the
vicar of the Cathedral Church in which the Bishop is actually a guest.
The dean, and not the bishop, is actually in charge of the cathedral.
The Bishop is the leader of a
group of archdeaconries called a diocese. His throne - the 'cathedral' -
is housed in the main church of the diocese - the cathedral.
The
archbishop is a senior bishop with oversight of a group of dioceses
called a province. In England there are two archbishops - the Archbishop
of Canterbury, and the Archbishop of York.
The
Archbishop of Canterbury is not just the archbishop of the Canterbury
province, but also Primate of All England and the spiritual leader of
the whole of the Anglican Church worldwide.
‘I was lucky because there were a lot of young people in my church so for us it was normal to go to church and lead a religious lifestyle.
‘I knew I wanted to work with people and needed variety to keep me interested so I knew becoming a priest was a realistic choice.’
Jude has only recently discovered she is the youngest priest in the UK, after Canon Dr Paul Shackerley, who she supports, checked the Church of England official records.
She said: ‘I suspected for a while that I may be the youngest as it's very obvious when you're lined up with a load of middle aged men!
‘I have friends who I trained with who are close to my age but I was younger than them all.’
With the profession becoming increasingly popular in younger people, Jude is fully supportive of others entering the Church earlier in life.
She said: ‘I think if this is something they want to do when they are 19 or 20 they should do it.
‘Although young priests have less life experience, it's good to be young in the job as you can relate to younger people.
‘You do need people who enter the faith at the age of 40, but it's good to have a mixture of both.
‘It's nice being this young and doing something I know is right to me, while I know I'm making a difference.’
A Church of England spokesman said: 'Jude is part of an increasing trend in the Church of England towards younger people coming forward to train as priests.
'In 2012, 22 per cent of those coming forward were under 30, the highest number for the past 20 years.'
All clergymen start out as curates, and can progress to become priests after two years in curacy.
Later in their careers they have opportunity to become vicars or rectors, then deans or archbishops.
The UK's youngest person to be ordained is Adam Young, of Saltburn, Yorkshire, who became a curate at the age of 23.