I shall be ordained Deacon on Saturday 3 July 2010, and am looking forward enormously to joining St John’s as Assistant Curate on Sunday 4 July.
As some of you may remember, I did a placement here last summer as part of my training, so I know just how lucky I have been in being offered the chance to serve my title post at St John’s!
I shall be coming with my husband, Jeremy, and my two sons, Hugo (13) and Guy (10). For the past eleven years, we have worshipped at Emmanuel, West Hampstead, where I was also a Reader, and both my sons have been at school in Hampstead, so I know the area quite well.
I studied Modern Languages at St Hugh’s College, Oxford (where I also met Jeremy), and then worked as Private Secretary in the Embassy of Finland in London. I was the only English person in the building, and was required to do everything “English”, from correcting the President of Finland’s speeches when he visited, to filling in car registration applications, and advising diplomats on what to wear to Ascot!
When Hugo was born in 1996, I gave up full-time work to look after him, but worked as a volunteer for a number of medical charities. I was PCC Secretary at Emmanuel from 2002 to 2007, and in 2004 decided to study for a postgraduate Diploma in Theology at Heythrop College, London. I then trained as a Reader, and was licensed in September 2006, before beginning training for the ordained ministry in 2008. For the past two years, I have been studying part-time at Ripon College, Cuddesdon (where Fr Stephen also trained!), and have just completed an MA in Ministry.
My particular interest, both academic and practical, is in ministry amongst children and families. I wrote my Heythrop dissertation on “Family Ties and Discipleship in the Gospel of Luke”, a subject very close to my heart as I approached ministry while my children were still quite young. My Masters dissertation considered the way in which church tradition may affect the way in which children are prepared for Confirmation in different Anglican churches. At Emmanuel I was Sunday School co-ordinator for six years, and also ran the church’s Toddler drop-in for seven years until I began training. I look forward to the many opportunities for this kind of ministry offered by St John’s: through the Sunday Schools, crèche, Junior Choir, Holy Hamsters, planned youth work and of course especially through the church’s connection with the Parochial School. I am also very keen to learn about areas of ministry and church life in which I have had less experience, and in particular the theological discussion, music and cultural interests for which St John’s is known.
I look forward very much to meeting and getting to know you all over the months ahead.