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UK News

Former pro wrestler one of 1,000 set for ordination

by Desmond Busteed

Craig Henderson will be ordained a deacon in the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales and will be working in Barnsley.

"Jesus calls people who are flawed, he doesn't call the perfect. I went away from the day thinking I need to have a bit more faith in myself and in what God's calling me to do. The moment when it all happened was like a light bulb going on. I'd had these feelings for a while and not really known what to do with them and suddenly everything starts to slot into place like a jigsaw, " said Henderson who was in the army for six years and then trained as a professional wrestler.

The new recruits come from a wide range of backgrounds and also include a prison worker and steam engine driver.

Dianne Gamble from York worked at the National Railway Museum for 18 years and qualified 18 months ago as an engine driver. She says: "I've always been able to see the links between steam locomotives and the spirituality of God. You see power that can move something big and that mystery of God that is with us all the time and the capacity of God to move us in life and make a difference."

Denis Hartley will be ordained a priest in HMP Thameside where he works. He says it was the obvious choice to have the service there: "I don't think it would have happened without the input of the prisoners. They are a great bunch to be with. They can be very challenging, but it's very rewarding. I think there's that element of being where God wants you to be and doing what God wants you to do and I don't think that would have happened outside."

The Church of England is using the hashtag #newrevs to welcome in all those being ordained on Twitter.

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