A FORMER geneticist has been ordained into the church ministry.

Sandra Birdsall was one of six to be made deacons by Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan at a service in Llandaff Cathedral on Saturday, June 27.

Sandra will serve as assistant curate at All Saints church in Penarth and it will be a homecoming for the mother of two as she attended the same parish as a child

She said: “Although I’ve lived in Raydr for many years with my family, my grandparents on both sides are from Penarth so it is quite fitting that I am going there for my curacy."

Her former job as a geneticist involved looking at chromosome abnormalities to diagnose leukaemia and lymphoma.

Sandra added: "As I became more involved in the church taking on things like Sunday school, reading in church and joining a bible study group, I realised how much I wanted to talk about my faith and started to consider the next step to ordained ministry.

I am now looking forward to getting on and doing the job – getting to know people in the parish and having the privilege to share their lives.”