Canon Thomas Nisbett described having his newly ordained son deliver a special sermon for him on his 90th birthday as “beautiful”.

Junior Thomas Nisbett is now a deacon at the Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Reverend Nisbett was invited to give the sermon at Sunday’s service of thanksgiving at the Anglican Cathedral.

His father said: “Everything went very well, everything was beautiful. It was a very good congregation. I am very pleased.”

Rev Nisbett, who was ordained in July and received the ceremonial red sash from his father for the occasion, said: “It was a privilege to bring a message there at the cathedral. I told the congregation that, in essence, we are here to celebrate the lives of the folks in the guild and celebrate my dad’s birthday, but that was just the beginning.

“We thanked God and it was established that we have a lot more work to do and we must celebrate and take examples from the work of Jesus Christ.”

Canon Nisbett’s birthday was celebrated with an evensong at the cathedral, in conjunction with the annual harvest thanksgiving service.