More young people are interested in becoming priests in the Anglican Church after a long-term decline in recruitment, the Archbishop of Brisbane Philip Aspinall says.
Numbers were still low, about eight or nine a year, compared to only one or two, but the new wave of would-be recruits to the clergy were younger, Dr Aspinall told the annual synod in Brisbane on Saturday.
“The average age of those seeking long-term ministry in the church is now down to 33 – 10 years ago we had an ordination in which nobody was under 40,” Mr McDonald said.
He said last year 24 people took part in conferences to consider whether to seek vocations, and of those 21 were invited to enter formal training for various ministries.
“This increase in the number of people inquiring about ordination and entering formation for ordination is very heartening,” Dr Aspinall said.
I suppose he’s talking about the diocese of Brisbane. Sydney diocese is overflowing with ordinands.
I’m sure Dr Aspinall is sopeaking only of Brisbane. In Canberra and Goulburn, for example, the number of ordination candidates, though not large, is sufficient to meet the need. Equally encouraging is that the number of theology degree students is many times greater than the number of of ordination candidates.