WORSHIPERS at a Leyland Church are rolling out the red carpet to welcome their first ever female minister.

After two years without a minister, the wait is over for Leyland United Reformed Church in Hough Lane.

Rev Georgina Brotherton has moved to the town from her position as minister for three churches in Colchester, Essex.

And in a special service on Sunday, September 23, a full church welcomed Georgina to the area.

She said: "Everybody has been so welcoming and kind. They are lovely people.

"For my first service, last week, I also took a baptism, and then for my induction service at the weekend the church was packed."

As a former social worker, Rev Brotherton was brought up in the Christian faith, although she only came into the church as a minister in her late thirties.

She said: "I used to work for a civil engineering company, and I met a lot of Christians through that. Then I became interested in studying, and went to University to do a Theology degree, alongside a community studies degree, when I was 39.

"After this I went into social work, and began to become more interested in ministry. I trained at Mansfield College, in Oxford University, before being ordained in 1998. When I joined the United Reform Church, I was intending not to get too heavily involved. That didn't last long, and I haven't looked back since!"

Rev Brotherton is the first female minister to take over a church in Leyland.

She said: "The United Reformed Church has been ordaining women as officers since the early 1900s. There are still not many when you compare it to men, but it's a higher proportion that a lot of other churches."

Mum-of-two Georgina has high hopes for her future in Leyland.

She explained: "It is a bit early to plan the direction I will be guiding the church in, but so far everything is going well. I found it very easy to settle in here, and I am well into the ministry of the church."