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Partner at Tulchan Group. Priest in Church of England. Bad dancer

Tuesday 24 May 2011

London Calling

Ok, Ordinangst knows he is a baby at this and everything, but he thought it might be interesting to give some words of advice to some of you lovely people who are embarking on the road to Ordination.   Here goes......
Celebrate your calling.  Do not get in the mind-set of feeling that being called by God to serve him is anything other than a fantastic privilege. Allow yourself to believe you really have been called and work through the implications of this.  Stay humble, but allow yourself the occasional pat on the back.
 If you are married and/or have children make sure that your family is involved in your training decisions.  If God joined you together in marriage – there is no way he is going to call you singly.  Explore as a couple and a family what your calling means before you start out, so the family owns the process.
Build a body of people who are committed to praying for you.  Do not expect that your church or diocese or theological college will automatically offer you (and your family) the sort of pastoral and prayer support that you are going to need.  Go out and build your own network and learn to rely on this network and ask them to pray for specific things.
Make sure you choose a spiritual advisor who you trust, who you can confide in absolutely, and who is your biggest supporter.  Nurture that relationship – and realise that your spiritual advisor is human too….ask them how they are occasionally!
 Make sure your spouse has a spiritual advisor too.  It’s lonely out in space.  Make sure you make time for your spouse and really listen to what they are thinking / feeling.  Pray together, and as a family.
Go on retreat frequently.  It is essential to find the space to listen to God.  
 Understand that training is tough.  There will be times of bleakness and despondency.  Learn to put God at the centre of these times and ask yourself how God is developing you through the trials.  Do not allow yourself to fear or to doubt.   
 Keep an open mind.  Training is theologically and spiritually turbulent.  It is likely that your faith will be challenged and rebuilt, hopefully richer and stronger.  Make sure that you support your fellow students on the journey.  At those times when you are wobbling make sure you talk through the wobbles with your fellow students and your spiritual advisor.
 God called you to serve him, not your Church.  Do not try to best-guess God’s plan for you – we have no idea what the future holds. Best not to start training with a pre-conceived idea of where you will end up.  Do not get into a panic in the scramble for curacies – allow yourself to relax in the knowledge that God has a plan. 
 Develop a discipline of prayer and bible study.  Be careful that the bible doesn’t become a technical manual for theology.  Make sure it still lives and breathes in your life – this means finding time to read it outside lessons and lectures.
Go to Church.  Often.  As a punter.  Make sure you go to a variety of Churches.  Go outside your comfort zone or what you regard as normal – you will be surprised to find that God is alive and well in all sorts of churches.
 Ensure you maintain a healthy connection to the outside world.  Your ability to minister effectively will be strengthened if you do this.  Go to films, read papers, explore social networks and beware of getting too cloistered in your theology college.
Ensure you build down-time into your schedule.  It is essential that you maintain your networks of friends and that you still do things that relax you.  Ensure you build family time in your schedule too – teatime spent with the family may well be more important than reading yet another chapter of Karl Barth.  Oh, and remember to sleep! 

3 comments:

  1. Seems like very good advice to me, particularly about nurturing your spouse as well.
    One thing I would challenge is your recommendation to go to a variety of churches - in my experience you will get that anyway as part of training.

    Instead, find a church quickly at the beginning of training and enjoy being a member of that community. It is probably the last chance before you are automatically on the leadership team. It is also vital to keep you grounded and not fixated on the occasional feuds and spats of college community life.

    The most important part of college for me was long afternoons spent drinking tea, eating biscuits and chatting. I learnt far more useful theology from that than from the lectures!

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  2. Wish i would have had this advice before i started training. Lots of truth in this. Pastoral care of yourself and spouse is really important and overlooked by colleges. Would also suggest being secure in what you belief and how you express yourself but also being open to new ideas

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  3. sound advice indeed which i will indeed to take to heart as a newbie Ordinand about to start formal training in September - thank you!

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