I’m a Youth and Children’s Pastor and until recently I worked at West Bridgford Baptist Church in the south of Nottingham, in the East Midlands. I’ve lived in the area for the last twenty two years, since coming with my husband and new baby Tom. Mike was called to be the Minister of Ruddington Baptist Church and it was his first pastorate, so I had left my career in administration to be a full-time Domestic Goddess and pastor’s wife. Three years after arriving in Ruddington our daughter Ellie was born.
When Tom was about four I got involved in Junior Church and after moving around the age groups I ended up with the youth group in the kitchen at church; I had finally found my calling. Over the next few years, as I considered career options for after the children were grown up I couldn’t find anything that grabbed me, and the main reason was that whatever I did would mean stopping working with young people. It took me a while to realise what that was telling me, but once I realised, I decided I needed to get some training so I applied for the Degree in Youth and Community Work with Applied Theology at Centre for Youth Ministry at the Midlands centre.
I loved my time there and discovered all sorts of things about youth work, God, myself and ministry. During that time I started to feel that God might be calling me into ordained ministry as a Youth Specialist so I started exploring that with church and in the Baptist system. After leaving college I was employed in my present role, and eventually was ordained as an Accredited Youth Specialist. As part of my further studies I completed an M.Th. at Regent’s Park College in Oxford in 2013. I’m spending a lot of time reading and thinking about children and young people in the church.
I enjoy reading, particularly crime novels and theology, watching films, surfing the ‘net, cooking, eating and relaxing with family and friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment