Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
On Thursday 3 July 2025, Alison Heal was ordained as a priest at the All Saints Anglican Church in Luxembourg in an evening service at the Konvikt Chapel in Luxembourg city centre.
The presiding bishop was The Rt Revd Dr Andrew Norman, Suffragan Bishop in the Diocese in Europe, on his first visit to Luxembourg. In addition to the clergy team, church wardens, council and congregation of All Saints, guests included: Pfr. Volker Beba from the Protestant Church of Luxembourg; Rev Charles Read from the Eastern Regional Ministry Course, England; Rev Ruth Tuschling from the Old Catholic Church, Saarbrücken; Pastor Logan Dunn from the Church of the Incarnation, Luxembourg; Pastor Pietro Colaci from Oasis Church of God, Luxembourg; Ulrik Møller, President of the Luxembourg Council of Christian Churches; Christina Fabian, President of ACAT (Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture); Renée Schmit, Director of Diocesan Training at the Catholic Church of Luxembourg.
The clergy entered the Church in procession during the singing of the hymn "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation"; after the ordination, "I come with joy to meet my Lord" was performed and sung to the tune of "Amazing Grace"; with "Tell out my soul" at the end of the ordination service.
Talking with Chronicle.lu, Alison Heal revealed: "It's a huge honour to be ordained to the priesthood here in Luxembourg, with the people of All Saints church who have become my new church family. My first ordination, at the end of my theological studies, was in Brussels last June. That was when I left Lyon, France, where I'd been training at Trinity (Anglican) Church Lyon while teaching at the International School. I combined my work as a special needs teacher with my studies at the Eastern Regional Ministry Course, travelling to England on a regular basis. The past year of ministry in Luxembourg has been an amazing start. My husband Ben is with me in Luxembourg, and our sons can easily visit from Paris and Liège, where they're based. We've been getting to know the city and the country, especially through CFL walks, which we love! For me this country, with its ancient Christian heritage and modern expressions of Christian traditions (like the Echternach hopping procession), is a wonderful place to serve. Alongside the Anglicans, many churches, old and new, are working and praying together. Many of their representatives have joined us at the service this evening, and although it may be unconventional for some of them to see a woman ordained priest, I've personally experienced their prayerful support and generous welcome".
Rev Canon Geoff Read, Chaplain at All Saints Anglican Church Luxembourg, stated: "All Saints is one of our Diocese's training churches for those on the journey to becoming Vicars. It offers variety of experience and the opportunity to translate previous working experience into a new role and context. Being a Culte Conventionné also gives curates at All Saints unique opportunities to work with the government and other churches and faith communities and be part of significant national and civic occasions. I really enjoy working with curate colleagues and learn lots myself along the way".
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