Caroline Yandell was ordained Deacon in 2009 and priested in 2010. She is currently serving her curacy in Henleaze. Here she considers the way her call to ministry has impacted the direction of her life.
Ordination has been a long time coming. There were many twists and turns along the way and a convoluted, but richly rewarding, journey to make. For many years God's call was graciously persistent but, in latter years, increasingly insistent and prominent.
So it was that I left medicine, little thinking at the time that God might ask me to hold ordained ministry together with being a doctor, or that bringing medicine and theology together could seem so fruitful. Nothing is wasted in God's economy, but it is sometimes only as we look back that we can begin to see God's purposes being worked out in the complex strands that weave in and out of our lives.
It is with deep gratitude that I look forward to beginning my curacy at St Peters, and its with great excitement that I wait to see what God has in store for the future.
One year on, Caroline reflects on her time as a Deacon and looks to the future.
Last year I wrote that ordination had been a long time coming; at times our journeys are challenging, and my first year as a deacon has certainly been that. Having been out of medicine for three years, combining general practice with ordained ministry seemed almost impossible at first but prayer really does change things and, miraculously, everything has fallen into place. In the past year there have been many joys and much laughter, as well as difficulties and deep sadness. But through it all I have known God's love and faithfulness.
There has been, and still is, much to learn from Mark and the people of St Peters. They have welcomed, loved and supported me this year and it is a privilege to serve my curacy amongst them. I look forward with great excitement to what God has in store for the future as I begin to minister as a priest.