A NEW recruitment drive targeting young and female would-be priests will be launched by Blackburn’s Church of England Diocese later this year.

After a national warning of an imminent clergy shortage, Bishop of Burnley Philip North revealed that in Lancashire there was no immediate problem.

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Although the number of full time vicars and curates grew in 2015 and there are few priests close to retirement, the latest figures revealed a county clergy that is "very middle-aged".

Nationally, the latest Church of England statistics show that only 13 per cent of clergy are under 40 and a quarter of ministers are over 60.

Its director of ministry Julian Hubbard warned unless action is taken to tackle this ageing trend, there will be too few ordained ministers to fill all the current roles.

In Blackburn Diocese, the number of paid ministers has risen from 170 or 171 in 2012, 2013 and 2014 to 177 last year.

Of these, 12 per cent are under 40, 65 per cent between 40 and 59, and 22 per cent over 60.

The percentage of female clergy is 17 compared to a national figure of 27.

The Bishop of Blackburn, Julian Henderson, consecrated in October 2013, was the first in his post to ordain women priests in June 2014.

Bishop Philip said the Diocese would launch a new recruitment drive later this year after two visits to the Diocese by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, to open Blackburn Cathedral’s new ‘clergy court’ in July and launch the special Crossroad Mission in September.

He said: “We do not have the problems some other parts of the church have.

“Thanks to the generosity in giving of our congregations and Bishop Julian’s commitment to growing the church, we have been able to increase our numbers of full-time clergy.

“We have a very middle-aged clergy, with only about eight due to retire annually in the next few years, and currently ten people in the middle of developing their vocations."

“However later this year, after a very exciting few months including two visits by Archbishop John, the Diocese will launch a new recruiting drive.

“We will be looking for young people with vocations to ensure a good mix in our clergy.

“Our number of female priests is low but Bishop Julian is happy to ordain them.”