Rob and Peter make their final farewells in the salubrious surroundings of the Chinese Restaurant.
And, of course, we have trainee nuns as well. Fellow students in the lecture room.Kenneth looking very Protestant.
A flurry of NOC scarves and hoods.
The Police Band processing to the Church.
And at the reception afterwards.
One of the wonderful things about Wakefield College is that there are Police training notices everywhere, so David's talk on Quaker roots was given from a lectern offering advice on arresting and detaining criminals.
Indecent Theology indeed.Indecent theologian?
In St John's Church before the service. Here you can see the Bishop of Manchester in mufti.This last weekend I have been in Wakefield Police College again, for the Commendation Weekend of the Northern Ordination Course, which is training me for the Priesthood. The final year had their graduation service on the Saturday afternoon and then left us for their Parishes. It was good to see them go and not at all, for me, the cause of sadness it was for some as they were all so keen to get started and, of course, to be ordained Deacon next weekend. It was, as always, a surprise to see so many people, from so many Dioceses, as there is a danger of some insularity for those of us in Luther King House in Manchester, because we are on a different course (which itself closes when we leave) and we have little contact with others from places as far away as York and Ely.
Sunday dawned wet and cold, which boded badly for my boots which have great holes in the soles and we munched our way through hangovers and dozed through a presentation on Carthusian Liturgy and music before Mass, where we said goodbye to Mary Leigh, a long term tutor on the NOC course and friend to many.