About Ladyewell House

Ladyewell House is an exciting, specialised centre of formation for ordinands from the Catholic tradition who are preparing for the sacred priesthood. In partnership with Emmanuel Theological College and through the generous support of Catholic societies within the Church of England, such as the Anglo-Catholic Ordination Candidates Fund (ACOCF), the House will help to form priests who combine a strong interior life with a passion for the mission of the Church, especially among the poor.

Ordinands will be students at Emmanuel Theological College and live together in community within the parish of St George’s, Preston. This will be the ordinands’ permanent contextual placement for the duration of their training, through which they will experience the joys and challenges of parish ministry and be formed in the habits and practices of priestcraft under the supervision of Fr David Craven. Ladyewell House will draw on the best traditions of seminary training and apply these to priestly formation in an urban context.

It is our hope that we will call out a new generation of priests formed within the traditional Catholic stream of the Church of England who carry a renewed imagination, experience of and confidence for reaching communities with the gospel and seeing unchurched people come to faith, establishing new worshipping congregations and be nurtured in the riches of the sacramental tradition.