Praying for those to be ordained - Rev Diane's Story
Rev Diane Simms will be ordained as a Priest on Saturday 2nd July and will be Assistant Curate in the Benefice of All Saints and Saint Mary, Fishponds.
Please read Rev Diane’s story below:
“I squalled at my baptism: there was even a photo in the Ulster Gazette to prove it! Apparently I was a lively child who ran up and down the aisle in St.Luke's, Ballymoyer, where my dad was 'Reverend'. There I learnt from an early age how to organise chairs and people. I sang and trusted that 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so, unaware that Karl Barth had likewise heard the gospel in those simple words. However, as a girl growing up in the 1970s, ordination to the priesthood was for men only, so it didn't occur to me to attend to God's call until later.
“In my 30s as a mum, I began to enjoy Bible afresh and felt compelled to share the story of Jesus creatively through Holiday Bible Clubs and a school Messy Church . As a licensed lay minister I grew to value pastoral encounters and conversations about faith.
“I agree with Eugene Peterson that tiny shoots of God's green grace really are growing in the backyards of ordinary lives. It is a privilege to be invited into people's lives in joy and sorrow, as someone who like them carries scars while looking to the stars. Standing at God's table, I will relish the moment, as I raise the chalice, when heaven touches earth and earth touches heaven - when we remember that nothing can separate us from God's redeeming love in Jesus.
“Ordained ministry isn't a walk-in-the-park and I don't always feel up to the mark, so I often go back to Psalm 37 where it says this: 'When your steps are guided by the Lord and you delight in his way, though you stumble, you shall not fall headlong, for the Lord holds you fast by the hand.”
Look out for tomorrow's story!