Kentish Express Ashford & District
They’ve made me so welcome, says new district vicar
A new vicar has been licensed to the churches in Kingsnorth and Shadoxhurst following more than a year without one.
The Rev Caroline Mansley will serve as the new team vicar for St Michael and All Angels in Kingsnorth and St Peter and St Paul in Shadoxhurst.
She was licensed to her new role at a special service held last week at the church in Kingsnorth by the Bishop of Dover, the Rt Rev Trevor Willmott, and installed by the Archdeacon of Ashford, the Ven Philip Down,
After the service, Mrs Mansley said: “I thought it went really, really well. I was so pleased with the level of singing, the commitment and the warmth that was expressed through the responses.
“This district here in Kingsnorth and Shadoxhurst have been waiting over a year for someone to come and serve them again, and they’ve made me so welcome and I really look forward to working with them and for them.
“I’d love to see more families in church and being part of our church family.
“We’re settling in well and just taking one step at a time.”
Mrs Mansley studied at Bristol University in 1978, and moved to Northern Ireland in 1997 with her husband, Nigel. They have two children, Jessica and Chris.
She began to explore becoming ordained in the Church of Ireland in 2006 and studied at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute in Dublin.
Mrs Mansley replaces Canon Sheila McLachlan who held her last service before retirement on June 14 last year.
The Church of England in Ashford is now a single parish with five districts across the town and its rural areas.