He was called to the Bar ten years ago but this week lawyer Graveney Bannister fulfilled a higher calling when he was ordained as a Deacon.

Rev. Bannister, who will work with Archdeacon Andrew Doughty in the parish of St. Mary's, Warwick, plans to keep his day job as a defence lawyer, legal consultant and occasional Acting Magistrate.

However, he will also dedicate around 15 hours per week to his unpaid church role, which will involve community work in his parish plus further study towards his lifelong ambition of becoming a priest.

"A lot of people are very complimentary of it but ask the question how am I going to do both," Rev. Bannister told The Royal Gazette. "It's a matter of time management.

"They both complement each other. Both involve helping people, and providing advice, and listening and helping people arrive at a solution to problems."

Speaking before his ordination, which took place at the Anglican Cathedral on Wednesday evening, he said: "I'm excited. I've always thought about it and I'm happy.

"I'm delighted that the process has begun and hoping that I will be able to be of some service."

Rev. Bannister, 51, left Barbados for Bermuda after high school and joined the Police, where he served as a constable for five years.

He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications and International Relations from Morehouse College, Atlanta, in 1988 before returning to Bermuda to work as a journalist for VSB, the Bermuda Sun, and The Royal Gazette.

In the mid 1990s, he left the media to attend law school at Buckingham University in England and Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica.

Having become a member of the Bar in both Bermuda and Barbados in October 1999 he returned to Bermuda to take up a post as Crown counsel at the Department of Public Prosecutions in 2000.

In August 2007 he returned to Barbados and embarked on a two-year theological course at Codrington College, one of the oldest seminaries in the western hemisphere.

Since returning to the Island last summer, Rev. Bannister has worked as a consultant at the Smith and Co. law firm, in addition to acting as duty defence counsel at Magistrates' Court and occasionally as Magistrate.

Archdeacon Doughty told The Royal Gazette: "Graveney has many gifts. He's extremely intelligent and experienced in life on both sides of the law.

"He's been a Policeman and a prosecutor and also a public defender. He has firsthand experience of some of the sadness that's in our society.

"He's a very devout man who says his prayers. He's articulate and has a wonderful sense of humour. He gets on very well with people and he's also an excellent cook which endears him to people."

Rev. Bannister's Bermudian wife Deeanda, and daughters Chelsi, 14 and Britney, ten, attended his ordination along with family and friends who travelled from Barbados for the occasion. Mrs. Bannister sang the Panis Angelicus during the service.

A large contingent of supporters including Police officers, lawyers and journalists also attended. The collection will be donated to earthquake relief in Haiti.