MY JOURNEY
Having just read the February News From The Pews I felt that as I am now half way through my ministerial course I should share a few thoughts with you.
The
first year was a rapid learning curve. From
being a person who was constantly a ‘doer’ – involved in so many areas of
church life, I found myself ‘being’. Yes
I was busy – college evenings, weekend and weeks away.
Notes to take, homework to read and essays to write.
Lots of additional readings but very little doing with other people.
Also during the first year I had to come to terms with the fact that I was actually on the course. I have to admit that I actually felt as though God had moved the goal posts as I had not believed I would get past the selection conference. It may sound strange but it wasn’t until the May college retreat that I actually felt an overwhelming affirmation that I was in the right place (Psalm 40 v 1: I waited patiently for the Lord’s help; then he listened to me and heard my cry.).
The
evenings follow a set pattern and now take place at Chelmsford Cathedral.
We arrive for supper at 6.15pm which is delicious, and rumour has it we
have never had the same meal twice. This
is followed by a period of worship in the cathedral choir stalls with the
musical director of the cathedral playing for us.
There is then a 2 hour lecture session.
These tend to be based on the homework reading and involve a lot of
discussion. The first year dealt
with church history, which was very heavy and at certain points I went into
overload. This year we have talked
about creation and science. Can
science help us find God? Humanity
and how a person’s identity is developed and expressed.
The concluding question tends to be:
how does that impact on your ministry?
The last couple of weekends have been spent visiting different types of parishes. I visited an urban parish in Hackney – some of the different ways of ‘doing church’ were interesting. Last weekend we visited places of worship for different religions in Southhall and the vicar there explained how they operated in such a multi faith area – very challenging.
It
has been a challenging and varied time and the next year will be more so.
From October time I have to be placed in a different parish and not come
to St. Paul’s Church for that period. That
will be so hard but exciting. Still
I’m going to concentrate on the now – enough worries there.
I would like to say that from then on it was plain sailing but unfortunately it has been a roller coaster ride with more drops than I can mention.
Through it all I have felt supported by the prayers of people at St. Paul’s Church. God has worked on personal issues but I still find the essays and preaching hard and miss all the practical stuff I used to do.
Of the future I have no idea only that it will mean my moving further away from St. Paul’s Church for a time at least.
I would like to thank you all for the support you have given me. The love you have shared. The patience you have displayed over the years for all the things I have done. I will always hold St. Paul’s Church in a special place in my heart and continue to pray for all that God is doing.
Marie Segal