On 24 June, 20 men and women took the next step in their discipleship journey, they were ordained as Deacons at Southwark Cathedral by the Bishop of Southwark. The moment of ordination is one of those pivot points – it is the culmination of all that has happened in the past and it is the start of a whole new ministry, even identity, for those being ordained. They will each have been through a rigorous and, at times, challenging selection process and they will have studied hard over the last few years. In offering themselves for ordination, they are offering all that they are to God’s service. The day after their ordination they will have started in their new curacy parishes, where they will be serving for the next few years. We have asked a few of the new Deacons to reflect on their journey to this point and what they are hoping for in their new ministries. Please keep them and all they serve in your prayers.
The Revd Raymond Baudon (Assistant DDO)
Chris Henriette writes…
Twenty years ago, my vicar asked me to consider ordination, the answer was no! So she invested in getting me theological education and spent years building me as a leader in the Church, at the same time I took a senior leadership position at a Christian youth work organisation. Twenty years later the new vicar at St Peter’s said the same thing and this time I could not avoid it, I started the discernment process in November 2019 with an “I told you so” from my previous vicar.
My two-year ordination training at St Augustine’s College in Kent has been amazing and challenging. I have been kept on my toes learning how to lead in worship styles that I am not familiar with. I have loved the different traditions we are all from and how we respect each other as we lead in styles/traditions not so comfortable to us. My training church of St Mark and St Luke, Downham has been very gracious letting me make mistakes so that I can learn. St Augustine’s has been involved in an exciting project on science and faith with Equipping Christian Leaders in an Age of Science (ECLASproject.org), this has been rich pickings for applied theology allowing me to integrate my faith with ideas from my degree and my youth work practice.
My curacy will be at the church of the Good Shepherd and St Peter, Lee. As a Pioneer Curate, I am looking forward to listening so I can discern what God is doing and trying to join in. I want to support the good work that is already happening in Lee and see where God wants my unique attributes to start new things.
My hope is for my family to feel settled. I can only be effective in ministry if they are happy and at home in the Church and the wider community. For myself, I am looking forward to God continuing to work in me so that I may continuously be transformed. I hope to do deeper inner, self-reflective work so that I can minister well.
When first called I did not think God called young black men from southeast London but over the years God’s still quiet voice has got louder and louder to the point where I have no choice but to hear “You are my son, whom I love; with you, I am well pleased” and know I am called as I am, made in God’s image, but uniquely me.
Grey Collier writes…
Although born and brought up in Surrey, I have been a south Londoner all my adult life and now live in Nunhead with my two teenagers, and my eldest when she’s back from uni.
I’ve spent my pre-ordination career as a human rights lawyer and campaigner, most recently as Advocacy Director for the human rights organisation, Liberty. I have always been motivated by the desire to see a fairer society and I campaign on social justice issues and inclusion, both professionally and as an activist and volunteer, including as a charity trustee.
I was brought up closely connected to the Church of England, both at home and at school and was very fortunate to spend a couple of formative years at sixth form in one of the most impressive school chapels in the country. But first my church involvement and then my faith fell away in my twenties when I was unable to reconcile so much hurt and harm in the world with the existence of a loving God. It took many years to return to faith but eventually I felt the pull bringing me back, and this time I found the combination of love, hope, and even doubt irresistible. Perhaps because I struggle with being still and am always doing a million things I am fascinated by the Benedictine, Franciscan and Ignatian forms of prayer and meditation. I also get a lot of spiritual nourishment from the natural world and spending time on retreat in a rural setting, and walking pilgrimage is important to me.
I started formally discerning a call to ordained ministry in early 2018, and managed to get to the Bishops’ Advisory Panel in the very last week before the first lockdown. That meant that my first year of training at St Augustine’s was entirely online which taught me and my cohort about the flexibility of remote learning and working, but also reminded me (if any reminder were needed) that nothing beats being able to hang out, learn together and make friends in person.
It has been incredibly hard work studying and carrying out formation for ministry alongside working for three years, mostly full time. I’ve now given up my secular job, for now at least, and am really excited to be joining the great team at St John’s Waterloo in June where I will be the second Assistant Curate, and will have a particular focus on working with children and young people, and on ministry with the LGBTQ+ community.
Joshua Pollard writes…
At 18, I was conflicted. God probably was directing me towards ministry. But I felt unready. Unlike Peter and Andrew dropping their fishing nets, I didn’t immediately drop everything to follow and serve Jesus. Instead, I had always dreamt of being a pilot and after two years hard graft, I began an amazing flying career.
Years later, a friend’s son asked me, ‘when you fly can you see heaven in the sky?’ I chuckled. The answer I’m afraid, is no. But I will say that when flying for hours across vast lands and oceans, you have plenty of time to observe God’s creation and contemplate on the splendour of God’s work. Looking around, I did not see heaven, but I did know that God’s earthly kingdom was continuing to be established. In the many places with vastly differing cultures that I flew to, I encountered God’s beautifully diverse people being Christ to one another in service to and for Him. These humbling experiences spanning just over a decade, ultimately led me to respond to God’s earlier call. God finally got me. It was time to plant my feet firmly on the ground and to offer myself to join this kingdom building, through ordained ministry.
Since 2020, I have been training in Yorkshire at the College of the Resurrection, where I have sought to build a Christ-centred pattern of life, of prayer, and of service. Admittedly, my love for hiking meant that ‘God’s Own County’ was a frequent distraction to my assignments! On a prison placement, I encountered one of those forgotten parts of the earth, where the Spirit is at work and where the Church is most assuredly called to serve in bringing healing, transformation and hope. It is here that I learnt my biggest lesson as a disciple to date – that Christ excludes no one. And, that we are never to judge, but are to help and accompany others, through love, towards reconciliation with the Father.
I am excited to begin serving at St Alban the Martyr, South Norwood. The worship and liturgy are unapologetically Catholic and the Church’s people seek to follow Alban’s example to ‘worship and adore the true and living God’. The Church is living out the gospel through missional means such as a food bank and free Saturday meals (both a necessary response), and its Alpha course to share the good news of Jesus. I am grateful too, to be given this opportunity to learn from many fantastic people.
I enjoy pilgrimage and have found through meeting others that for many today, religious or not, there is an attraction to making a journey to escape the hum drum of life because they seek something deeper, something they desire, even if they cannot give it a name. I pray that as I surrender my life to God’s service and God’s will, that I might play some small part in helping people through this life’s pilgrimage journey, to realise that what they desire is indeed within reach – and has a name.
