An ordination... in a rehab centre

Is this a first? On Sunday (5 June) Northern Baptist College Minister in Training, Jayne Irlam, was ordained, not in a church building but in an addiction recovery centre

Jayne is one of the ministers of Church Without Walls in Manchester, a fresh expression of church that is part of Urban Expression. She has a multi-layered ministry. As well as helping to lead the church she works part time as a custody nurse with Greater Manchester Police. She also serves GMP as one of their divisional chaplains. 

As if that wasn’t enough, for the past three years Jayne has been training for ministry at Northern Baptist College (NBC) whilst completing an MA in Mission Studies with the Nazarene Theological College, also in Manchester.
 
The service was led by Jayne’s co-minister Gary Serra di Migni and the ordination was conducted by Phil Jump, North Western Baptist Association’s regional minister, team leader. Jayne and Gary decided to hold the service at Betel UK’s Centre in Chorlton because they work closely with the charity supporting people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction. 
 
According to Jayne, 'Church Without Walls is all about enabling people who won’t set foot in a church building to be church in a way that’s relevant and authentic to them. It made sense therefore for us to hold the service amongst the people with whom we work.' 

Glen Marshall, co-principal of NBC commented, 'Some people might think that it’s a bit out there to hold an ordination in a rehab centre, but this was no gimmick. After all out there is surely where the church is meant to be.'