In ordinary times, today would have been my first day as an ordained priest. I designed a stole for the occasion, which has been beautifully hand-crafted by Yvonne Bell. It tells my story of life and faith which I’d like to share with you. 
I came to faith in Jesus Christ on a field in Criccieth, North Wales. Throughout the year, the field was used to graze sheep, but in summer, I was the lost sheep and God met with me.
It was on this field, in 2005, that I felt this pull to be ordained, God wanted me to be a shepherd. This sense of 'calling' was nurtured through my work as a children's worker @TrinityMboro.
"For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” Rev 7:17
Around that time, I met my future wife, Emma. We lived in North Yorkshire and enjoyed meeting in Swaledale, my favourite of the Yorkshire Dales.
In the river was a rock where which was very special to us. It was here that I went down on one (wet) knee and proposed. We married in 2006.
"Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
Ps 61:1-2
listen to my prayer.
From the ends of the earth I call to you,
I call as my heart grows faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
Ps 61:1-2
But as the years passed by, ordination became a more distant possibility. Had I got it wrong? I became a teacher in @BarlbyCPSchool . It was a job I loved. We settled into family life with our two young daughters.
In 2017, a chance conversation with @JohnSentamu changed my course. I was advised (quite firmly!) to pursue ordination. Within months, I had finished my teaching and began life as a student at @cranmerhall, Durham.
Training hasn’t always been easy. My family and I have given up a lot, both the seen and unseen. Yet God’s light has been our focus. We continue to look to it, through the good times and the bad.
Some of our favourite family holidays have been to Flamborough Head in the East Riding, with its dominant lighthouse. Our curacy just happens to be five miles down the coast in the seaside town of Bridlington.
As the boats leave the harbour, I’m reminded of the disciples who dropped their nets in Galilee and followed Jesus. I now surrender my all to Him, once again.
"In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee."
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee."
That’s my story & the river of God’s grace flows through it.From the Tees to the Swale to the Ouse to the Derwent to the Wear and into the North Sea.
"All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again."
Ecc 1:7
"All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again."
Ecc 1:7
"Here is love, vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heaven's eternal days."
Loving kindness as the flood
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten
Throughout Heaven's eternal days."
(I should say ordained deacon - getting a bit carried away with the priest bit. That's for next year, but I hope you get the idea!)
