Thoughts on the Way

Editorial Correction: The writer apologises for an error that appeared in her last blog. I have been reliably informed that it was, in fact, a whistle that was played in class, not a recorder. #FightFakeNews In two days I will have reached the end of my first term of theological college. It feels forever since I started yet everything is still so new. So, here’s a whistle-stop tour of my first term: I’ve studied Mission and Ministry, Old Testament, Theological Reflection, Church History, Christian Ethics, Spirituality, Preaching, and Anglican Story, Ethos and Practice. I have led college chapel, led an 8am service and preached at the remembrance all age service at my context church. I’ve been to workshops about mental health, addiction, wilderness times and reconciliation. I have been to the zoo and the cinema 4 times each! I have shed tears and shared laughter too many times to count with the most incredible college community. My legs no longer turn to jelly halfway up Whiteladies

Somehow I’ve reached the end of my first half term at theological college; it feels like it has gone in the blink of an eye and that I’ve been here forever. Two topics have ended (except the small matter of writing the essays!) and two more will begin in November. So, here’s some highlights and discoveries so far: ·         I’ve discovered that there are two types of weather in Bristol; ‘raining’ and ‘about to rain’. ·         I have visited the zoo more than I’ve visited the city centre and I’m totally fine with that. ·         I tried on a cassock alb for the first time (think of a ‘jedi costume’ crossed with a ‘ninja costume’ with a little bit of ‘angel costume’ thrown in, though sadly without halo, wings or a lightsaber…) and it felt…well, actually it felt weird but then it is a bit weird. It didn’t feel as weird as I thought it would… ·         I preached from just bullet points, no script, and it was totally terrifying but completely OK. ·         We re-enacted an

‘As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’ Isaiah 55:10-11 I want to tell you about Brizzle Drizzle. Coming from one of the driest places in the country, this is a new phenomenon to me. It’s utterly incredible and what happens is this: you look out of the window and it’s definitely not dry, but it doesn’t really look like it’s raining. So, you go outside and realise there’s a kind of heavy mist in the air, but it still doesn’t feel like it’s raining. You walk to where you’re going and when you get inside you realise that you’re wet; like you’ve been out in the rain. But it hadn’t really felt like it was raining. This sums up welcome week for me (but please don’t associate the

‘I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?’ Isaiah 43:19 In August 2016 I sat in the chapel at Bishop’s House on the island of Iona and read these words. As I wrote them and the surrounding verses in my journal, I knew that the new thing God was calling me to was priesthood in the Church of England. And I said yes… Well… Eventually… Today it is Friday 6 th September 2019 and I am sat in my new bedroom, in my new flat, in my new home of Bristol, about to embark on life as an ordinand at Trinity College Bristol. So I thought I’d write a blog about it all. I can’t promise it will be very profound but there’s a few reasons I thought I’d write it. Firstly, even my computer doesn’t know what an ordinand is and has put an angry red line under it, suggesting I’ve misspelt a normal word like ordinance or ordinary. So I thought it might be vaguely interesting to explore what being an ordinand really means and what it’s like in rea