CAPTION: This year marks the 30th anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood, Bishop Jackie was among the first women to be ordained in 1994.
Bishop Jackie First Woman to Lead Exeter’s Maundy Thursday Chrism Service
Chrism Eucharist 2024
The Acting Bishop of Exeter, the Rt. Rev’d Jackie Searle, has become the first woman in history to lead the annual Chrism Eucharist at Exeter Cathedral on Maundy Thursday.
The service is a major gathering of clergy and licensed lay ministers from across Devon, during which they renew their ministerial vows. It is an opportunity to thank them for their ministry and faithfulness in serving God and the people in their care.
During the service, holy oils used for anointing and prayers for healing are blessed by the bishop and distributed to the congregation to take back to their parishes.
The word chrism means consecrated oil.
Bishop Jackie said “The oil that is blessed at the service will at times be used in public ceremony – at the licensing of clergy, at baptism, at confirmation, at ordination, at a service for healing – and other times in private – at a hospital bedside, in a person’s home as they near the end of their life. Whether public or private, it is always an intimate moment, a God moment, a sacred space.”
The Chrism Eucharist service has been taking place at Exeter Cathedral for centuries.
Bishop Jackie said: ‘It is my very great privilege to be presiding at this wonderful gathering and it is especially moving to be doing so this year as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of women being ordained to the priesthood. I am grateful for all my sisters and brothers in the Diocese of Exeter as we together live out our calling to follow Christ and to serve the people of Devon with joy.’
Read interviews of some of the first women priests reflecting on the 30th anniversary here.
In her sermon, Bishop Jackie preached about the story of the woman who breaks open an alabaster jar of precious perfume to anoint Jesus (Mark 14:1-11)
The service is a major gathering of clergy and licensed lay ministers from across Devon, during which they renew their ministerial vows.
She spoke about her ordination to the priesthood in 1994 and said “There is no doubt that the jar of my life was broken open at that point, probably without me realising that there would be no going back.
“And I wonder if you can identify with that? Perhaps the decision to follow Jesus, to open your heart to him, to give your life to him – perhaps that is your breaking open the jar moment.
“Perhaps your licensing as a lay minister or your ordination, or your consecration? Or perhaps there has been some significant moment or event in your life – possibly a failure, or a bereavement, or illness, something that has brought you to ‘a breaking point’ – where life is laid bare before God.”
After the service, the congregation enjoyed hot cross buns and coffee before the clergy and lay ministers headed-back to their parishes for the start of the busy Easter weekend.
