Bishop Mark Strange, Bishop of Moray, Ross, and Caithness, and Primus, has asked us to announce the appointment of the Revd Grace Siromony as the new Priest-in-Charge of the Isla Spey Deveron Group.
Over the last couple of weeks Grace has come to visit all the churches, and to meet members of them; then representatives of the Vestry had an in-depth Zoom conversation with her, and then the Vestry voted unanimously in favour of her appointment.
Grace took a Bachelor of Arts degree at Women’s Christian College, Nagercoil in 1998, and a Bachelor of Divinity at United Theological College, Bangalore (probably the best seminary in India) in 2003. She was ordained priest in the Arcot Lutheran Church, South India – which through the Porvoo Agreement is in full communion with the Scottish Episcopal Church and other Anglican Churches. She worked as a Palliative Care Chaplain at Vellore Christian Medical College, between 2004 and 2011; she then moved to the UK and was a Healthcare Chaplain at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, and then Priest at St John the Evangelist, Dumfries. In 2018, she moved to the Cathedral in Inverness, as Chaplain (providing pastoral care), and then – after a brief spell at St John the Evangelist Forres – to St John the Evangelist, Inverness, where she is now. Grace has two daughters and a son.
Bishop Mark, Richard, and Megan are all delighted about this appointment, as are the Vestry, and Bishop Mark reports that Grace is “over the moon”!
The Bishop is now looking for a date for Grace’s Licensing, when she will formally start work here in the Isla Spey Deveron Group. It won’t be immediately as Grace will need time to leave well from St John the Evangelist, Inverness, and the Vestry have just now let the contract to complete the conversion of the garage at the new Rectory into a Study.
We pray for Grace as she prepares to move, for Bishop Mark, for the Vestry and all those taking on extra responsibilities during this time.