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Revd Neil Biddiscombe I was delighted to become curate at the Parish of Three Saints in 2021, a curate is a guest in a parish and I hope I won't out stay my welcome! My curacy is different to many as I am 'self-supporting'. This means that I do not receive any income from the church (called a stipend). I am carrying on with my full-time job so will mainly be in the parish on a Sunday. I have lived in Burnham-on-sea with my wife Jayne for almost 25 years and attended St John's Church in Highbridge before joining the Parish of Three Saints. My journey to this point is quite different to many priests' as I don't have a family history of church involvement. I had been happily sat in the pews for 15 years, when God, very surprisingly, pointed a finger at me and called me to ordained ministry. After two years of testing this calling with the diocese, I undertook my 'formation' (the first stage of training) at Sarum College in Salisbury starting in 2018 and finishing in June 2021. At that point I started in Three Saints as a Curate, and was 'signed off' from this in January 2025 though I am still called the curate. Within the Church of England there are three types of ordained person: deacon, priest and bishop. These reflect the way that the early church was organised. |
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A deacon would usually become a priest after a year, but some choose to remain as 'distinctive deacons'. So I, having been ordained as both deacon and priest, am both a deacon and a priest. Similarly Bishop Michael is a deacon and a priest as well as being a bishop. Words like curate, vicar, rector, chaplain, are terms that are perhaps more like what we would understand job titles to be. So I am a deacon, priest and a curate. Our previous rector Kevin was s a deacon and a priest, and the Rector of the Parish of Three Saints. Hospitals may have an ordained person as a chaplain, for example Revd Karen Murphy is the Chaplain for Weston Hospice - she is a chaplain, not a vicar. Currently due to my work role I don;t have a regular day in the parish, but please contact me as below though there may unfortunately be a delay in responding. Tel: 07862 045215 e-mail: curate.tpots@gmail.com May God's blessings be with you. Revd Neil
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