EIGHT women and just one man will be ordained as Deacons by the Archbishop of York at York Minster on Sunday .

A Church spokesman said this would be the first time more women than men were ordained at a service in the Diocese of York.

The Archbishop, Dr John Sentamu said it was wonderful to see such a flourishing of ministry among women and men in the Diocese.

Among those being ordained is Sarah Strand, who met her husband – a fellow curate – while pursuing her call to the church.

She said: “I grew up in Tadcaster before moving to Cornwall to study at university, where I first received a call from God to ordination.

“Our Diocesan Director of Vocations, the Rev Dav Mann, wanted me to find out what life was like as a young, single trainee and find out a bit about life in theological college.

“So he gave me the number of someone else who was training to be a vicar. That person was Matt, my future husband!

“We kept in touch over Facebook and ended up bumping into each other again at a service in York Minster, and the rest is history.”