Celebrating 25 years of women priests – and Diana Kitson's lay ministry in Sawbridgeworth

As the Church of England celebrates a quarter-century of women priests, Great St Mary's is planning a special day for Diana Kitson to mark her 25 years as a licensed lay minister.

Diana, who turned 80 this year, has been involved in St Mary's since she came to Sawbridgeworth in the 1960s. She was part of the second group of women on the three-year training course for the priesthood, for which she signed up a few years after losing her husband Colin, when he was only 52.

"I felt like God had been calling me for some time – I just hadn't been listening," she said. "I talked it through with my family and they encouraged me no end."

Diana also enjoyed the blessing of the congregation, even from those who didn't believe in women in the Church. "I knew one person who was anti-women and I asked him if he would support me. He turned out to be the most supportive of the lot."

"If you meet people who are anti-women – and let's face it, there are still quite a few – it becomes a challenge to win them round."

Diana graduated and went on to do a humanities degree, but was directed to the lay ministry because of her age. "I did the priest training course but unfortunately they felt I was too old to go into the priesthood," she said.

The great-grandmother has filled the unpaid role ever since, performing many of the functions of a priest, with the exception of weddings, baptisms and consecration of the bread and wine.

There have been many memorable moments. During a pet service, Diana gave blessings to all sorts of animals – including snakes. "All behaved themselves beautifully until it came to someone coming forward to do a reading with their dog," she said. "The dog got very excited and wagged his tail to such a degree he flicked the light switch and we were all in darkness."

One year, the vicar was taken ill on Christmas Eve. Diana stepped into the pulpit "and made something up", continuing to fill in for two-and-a-half years while the parish was in vacancy.

Diana's 25 years of service will be celebrated this Sunday (Sept 29) by the Archdeacon of Hertford, Janet Mackenzie, in a special service, followed by a lunch.