The first and (possibly) last ordination
Names of those in the photo taken by Jonathan Adamczewski are:
Front Row: Revd Will Briggs, Revd Dianne Milligan, Revd Jill McCoy, Revd Aileen Fitzgerald, Revd Louise Priest, Revd John Tongue, Gilbert Claridge.
Second Row: Revd Alister Stott, Revd Helen Chick, Revd Lorna Crole
Back: Bishop John, Revd Alan Bulmer, Revd Brian Vaughan, Revd Christine Putt, Revd Derek Putt
The Revd Aileen Fitzgerald was ordained as a priest on Sunday 13 January at Cooee's St David's Church.
This was the first and possibly last ordination in the Cooee church as it will close when the renovations of St George's Church, Burnie are completed. The church was packed with well-wishers from Anglican parishes throughout northern Tasmania and from other churches in Burnie.
Aileen has been a member of the Burnie Interchurch Fellowship for many years and is very committed to promoting Christian unity.
'I feel honoured to be the only person to have been ordained in the church,' the Revd Fitzgerald said. 'It was a happy and celebratory experience. Originally I was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, but I felt a call of God to a different ministry,' she said.
'I was very happy at the Catholic Church and I had no intention of moving. I wasn't looking to leave and I never thought I would, but God saw things differently.'
After following a call to join the Anglican church she was ordained a deacon.
The Revd Fitzgerald hopes to foster a vibrant church over the next few years and believes the church has a lot to offer the wider community. 'The churches do an awful lot of things that support youth, welfare, and the disadvantaged,' she said.
Apology
In the February edition of Tasmanian Anglican we linked the page 2 photo of the ordination at Cooee with an article about the Revd Jill McCoy and omitted to note that the photo (Above) included the Revd Aileen Fitzgerald who was ordained at St David's Cooee, Parish of Burnie.