A SERVICE to mark a decade of women priests in the Church of England will be held at Salisbury Cathedral in June.

More than 100 women priests from Wiltshire and Dorset will attend the service to mark 10 years of the women's ministry.

Those ordained at the historic cathedral have been invited to return to the diocese for the celebrations on June 11.

Canon Christine Farrington, one of the first women to be ordained in 1984 will preach, while the Dean of Salisbury, the Very Rev June Osborne, will lead the service.

The 2pm service will be followed by a picnic in Cathedral Close.

Guests have been invited to attend a private lunch with the Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Rev David Stancliffe, beforehand.

He said: "The ordination of women to the priesthood was an enormously important step for the Church and I look forward to this joyful celebration of their ministry."

Organiser the Rev Vanda Rowe, Team Vicar of Pewsey, said: "There was a time when the presence of a female priest behind the altar was something of a novelty, but nowadays women and men are carrying out valuable ministries in parishes, prisons, hospitals and schools."

Commemorative mugs have been designed to mark the anniversary, with the Church Times cartoonist Ron lending a helping hand.

Mugs will be on sale in Swells Bookshop, Sarum College, with profits going towards the theological education of women priests in the Sudan.