LIFE WITHOUT ST GEORGE'S

Many things have happened since April 2000. At the Easter Day service right at the beginning of my time at All Saints, we were asked to write something memorable on a piece of paper. Mine says Easter 2000 - the start of a new stage on my journey.

It wasn't long before I felt a part of that congregation, they are a very welcoming bunch of people. I was soon on the rota for reading. After attending a training day for intercessors I also joined that rota. This means looking up readings, liaising with the preacher and then writing the prayers for use at the Eucharist. I became a member of the servers team, learning the intricacies of acolyte, clerk, crucifer and Sub deacon. All the while I was discerning my future with the Director of Ordinands and my spiritual director, and meeting with others on their discernment journey. I attended the college at Salisbury for one of their open days where there were interviews and a chance to meet with students already on the course. Soon I was filling in forms for selection conference, but before this Ray and I journeyed to New Zealand to see our new grandson, a trip that was all too brief but worth it and definitely not to be forgotten.

The fateful day arrived and on the Sunday prior to travelling to Shallowford in Staffordshire, Gill, my new vicar, and the congregation prayed for me. Was it just a coincidence that this was the anniversary of my Baptism many years before? Selection conference was an amazing experience. There were sixteen men and women of various ages from all over the country who met with six selectors and a conference secretary for 2½ days. There were exercises to do, interviews with three selectors and a PCC type meeting in which each of us had to chair for one particular subject. The food was good and the worship sincere. It was a time of incredible emotions, highs and lows, but over everything there was a calm, a peace, the knowledge that God was with us in our time together. When I returned home I just felt so elated and was not concerned if I had been recommended or not, the experience alone was enough.

A week or so later I was told that I had been recommended for training and would begin my course in September 2001. There are about 30 in my year group and we meet together twice a term for residential weekends which run from Friday night to Sunday lunchtime, and for a whole week at Easter time. The college is ecumenical, for Anglicans, URC and Methodists. It takes a while to know everyone and to realise which denomination each belongs to. The weekends are themed. Some of the things we have been exploring have been the Bible, the church in mission, the Rural and Urban churches, Interfaith, Justice as well as Ways of Praying and Theology and Ministry. We also have a local weekly tutor group to work through the syllabus which is split into units, two to a term. After studying a unit for 5 weeks we then have an assignment to write of 2,500 words. This was daunting at first but so far I have managed to gain enough marks. In addition to this we also have to train in our parishes looking at such things as leading small groups, baptism and confirmation prep., leading worship and preaching. This last was the thing I most dreaded before beginning training but now I find that I enjoy explaining the Gospel in ways that make it relevant to today's world.

As I start my final year of training I am working with the ecumenical youth club in Petersfield looking for God in places that are unfamiliar to me. The King's Arms project provides a safe place for teenagers to go in the evenings where they can enjoy themselves. It is hard work but rewarding at the same time. Of course the work doesn't end when I finish there. I have to write a theological assignment about my experiences!

All too soon June 2004 and the ordination will be upon me. I was asked the other day if I felt that the STETS course had prepared me for ministry. My immediate answer was no, but on reflection I feel that it has broadened my outlook on life, on other people, on other ways of worshipping God and thus is giving me a sound base for future ministry. Now where exactly does God want me to be for the next part of my journey? For that I can only wait and see!

With love.

Ruth Loveman

October 2003.