A DOZEN deacons were made and ten priests were ordained at Salisbury Cathedral during the last weekend in June.

The new clergy, among 900 being ordained by the Church of England this summer, will serve in parishes across Dorset and Wiltshire.

The event marked the culmination of years of training for those involved.

It was attended by bishops from Salisbury, Sherborne and Ramsbury, as well as Very Revd June Osborne, Dean of Salisbury.

Revd Jo Haine has already completed a year as a deacon in Dorchester and the Winterbournes and has now been ordained as a priest.

She said: "The call to ordained ministry is sacrificial and involves stepping out in faith, away from all the comfort and security that we surround ourselves with.

"As I knelt in the Cathedral today looking up at the Prisoners of Conscience Window, I could not have been more aware of my weakness and vulnerability.

"This is all I have to give, but God continues to choose to use me and responding to His call is the most amazing privilege."

Former nurse Revd Jane Williams has now been ordained to serve in Wareham.

She said: "I’ve discovered that when God calls there is no way you can ignore Him.

"I was at the height of a long career in the NHS and I loved being a nurse, but God had other ideas.

"Even though I resisted for a while, a bit like the story of Jonah, here I am today, being ordained and it feels like the most natural thing."

Revd Guntars Reboks was also welcomed to Sherborne, having already been ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Latvia.

A special relationship called the 'Porvoo Communion' means that Anglican churches in Britain recognise Lutheran priests from Scandinavia and the Baltic.

Guntars said: "It was amazing to be part of this day. I’m looking forward to getting a wider view of the universal church, and being part of uniting us into one church."