Discussion Forum

I ponder over this regularly. I know that I am a child of God, and as such my personality is a gift from God. I am a shy person, not very outgoing, not very confident, and certainly not a scholar, and I hate being the centre of attention. I can honestly say I don't think I have any natural talents at all. So why do I feel so drawn to be at the front of Church. The whole process of preparing a sermon is stressful to me. I am riddled with self doubt, and then feel what I have prepared isn't good enough. I then get very anxious about getting up and delivering my sermon. It really is a phobia of mine. But it always seems to be well received and people are very positive with their feedback. Does God turn what I perceive as my weaknesses, and turn it into something positive. When people see me at the front of church, I am there for one reason and one reason only, and that is to glorify God.

well, i have heard John talk a lot about how he came to faith and talked about his journey. To be honest its great to hear how an ordinary person can find faith and how as a married couple they support each other with their faith. I have witnessed many things over the past few years and through knowing John i can see that God works in amazing ways. i come from a family where the older generation has strong faith, My uncle is a licenced reader in a Methodist church and i have a relative (distant cousin) who is an ordained minister in a Presbyterian church in Northern Ireland. I regularly touch base with Alistair and can ask him questions about faith if i wish too, I messaged today to find out that 7th April 2000 was the date he was ordained and there i am asking him about his calling and vocation!!! Just as i thought Alastair had a long journey and he's always needed by his congregation, even during lockdown Alastair was on Facebook doing prayers and readings. Alastair knew from his time at college what he wanted to do and did many tests which included a overnight stay and a psychological test, this sounds quite a difficult thing to go through, but with God and faith its possible.

In what way do you think ordination is about being as well as doing? ordination is also about setting an example of living the life that God wants us to do, those ordained demonstrate gods love and teachings. What has struck you from this session? I don't think that ordination is possibly a lonely thing, its a busy hectic life always in demand Had you ever thought about the public nature of ordained ministry and how lonely it might be at times? I have thought a lot about the fact that you always have to be available for people and the fact that you need to be able to communicate in so many different ways to meet the needs of so many individuals in this life. ​ Had you realised that ordained people are called to be the servants of the congregation as well as having the care for all the souls in the parish? What skills and gifts do you think the Anglican Church should seek in candidates who feel called to this ministry? looking and thinking about this question i feel that candidates should be able to communicate in many different ways not just by standing at the front of a church service and preaching, they should be able to become involved with the community and not be afraid to learn new skills such as learning to use Makaton, symbols and using technology more to reach out to those around us. As a person with a hidden disability I see that those with more visible disabilities are more distant and often forgotten so a good candidate should not ne afraid to try and reach these folks. ​ What are the challenges, do you think, that face an ordained person in today’s church compared to the early church? I think the language used today could possibly be a challenge, as the words in the bible have multiple meanings and in modern society they need to be translated, a little like translating the meaning of Shakespeare's plays. I also think that the way the world is today could also be a challenge , family dynamics have changed, politics is always changing and also climates changing has a big effect on us today ​ What are the gifts that God has given to you to enable you to contribute to the ministry of the gathered Church? I hope that the gifts I have received can be used within the church, I was not blessed to have my own children but care for others as a foster carer and through this i have learnt to share my love, knowledge and also learn about keeping children safe in society today and understanding the impact of trauma on their lives and that i can use this with youth that are visiting our church with their foster carers. I have learnt that through trauma a deep bond with God can develop as those individuals learn that God will always be with them and that the words of a bible do not change, this has been witnessed through my own daughter and she loves checking that bibles with different covers still say the same words and that in the beginning there was light!!! I hope that i can encourage those wit h extra needs that Jesus didn't forget us and he went out of his way at times to meet different people with differing disabilities and ailments. I also have been blessed with the skills to learn and use Makaton as a means of helping those around me understand what is happening/being said around them.