Hannah Felsbourg
8 February 2025
Melbourne’s new Anglican deacons and a new bishop were urged to embrace a ministry of quiet service as they were ordained.
Eight men and women were ordained as deacons on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Those ordained were the Reverends Victoria Bakerov, Ricky Njoto, Graeme Chiswell, Lauren Weatherlake, Kyle Hosken, Chuck Zhang, Alison McGrice and Victor Zhu.
The Venerable Scott Lowrey was also consecrated Assistant Bishop of Ballarat at the service, which was presided over by Archbishop Philip Freier.
In his sermon, Bishop of Ballarat Garry Weatherill emphasised that the most important ministry often happened quietly and without fanfare.
He shared a story from his youth in the opal fields, where an older miner helped him overcome a moment of fear without ever speaking of it to others.
Read more: Efforts ‘quietly making a difference’
“Sometimes the most important ministry you will do will not be known by anybody other than yourself,” Bishop Weatherill told the ordinands.
He urged them to cultivate their capacity to imitate Christ through regular prayer, serious scriptural study, and maintaining trusted friendships for spiritual support.
Bishop Weatherill encouraged the new clergy to be open to those with whom they disagreed and to listen carefully to different perspectives.
“Try and develop the capacity to look for the good in the people you don’t like, or the people you disapprove of, or the ideas that drive you crazy,” he said.
“See the world through sacramental eyes… develop the ability to hear the word of God addressing you from unexpected places and unexpected people.”
Read more: We can disagree, but rejoice because Christ is preached
Bishop Weatherill concluded by highlighting the traditional words of commissioning: “May God, who has called you to His service, make you worthy of His calling.”
He emphasised that while all were unworthy on their own, through Christ, God saw them as the beautifully immortal diamonds He had made them to be.
The bishop noted this truth extended beyond clergy to all Christians.
“True for dentists and lawyers, for truck drivers, for drovers, even for Opal miners, all of us who are called by God depend on His grace that we might be worthy to respond to that call,” he said.
The newly ordained deacons will serve across Melbourne, including at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, City on a Hill, and churches in Doncaster, Carlton, Blackburn North, Ferntree Gully and Ivanhoe.
This was Archbishop Freier’s final time presiding over an ordination service as Archbishop of Melbourne before his retirement on Sunday, February 9, 2025.
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