The first Young Vocations evening has been held at Old Alresford Place to encourage and support young people who feel called to work in God’s church.
The young people came from towns and villages across the diocese, many already working within their churches.
25-year-old Martha Lloyd is currently in her discernment year. She works as a children, family and community leader at Lords Hill Church in Southampton.
She said, “I’ve come along to meet other people who are in the same process or thinking about the process, so that I can chat about their experiences and find out how they’re finding it. I’ve felt that God has been calling me into this for a number of years now and I’m in a place where I feel very supported to take that step and listen to what God has to say and go forward with that. I am hoping that in September I can start training.
“I think there are lots of people, who are our age, who want to explore faith and having people our age in ministry can help them relate” she continued. “I also think that it’s about breaking down stereotypes, keeping things fresh and bringing different ideas. I think God calls everyone, doesn’t he? In the Bible, there are so many young people who are called. I think it’s great to be able to be a part of that and step out and serve him.”
Martha has come along with her friend Amy Gough who is a youth worker at St Mary’s in Southampton. She is 19 years old.
She said, “I’ve not started the process yet. I’m just exploring and seeing what a vocation in ministry would look like if I decided to go for it. I definitely feel there is a calling from God for me to go into this. It’s just exploring how, when and what it would look like to follow that call. It is really exciting especially because I’ve taken the initial step to say yes to God’s calling and just seeing where that leads to. I feel like there’s a new perspective that young people can bring into the church.”
24 year old Harvey Gollins is working as a Children and Families Minister in the Parish of Christchurch, having previously studied theology at Moorlands College. He said, “I think church was always somewhere I wanted to work but I never fully knew where. For most of my adult life and even before then, I’ve felt Children’s and Youth Work was where I wanted to be but very recently, I’ve maybe felt called to ordained ministry. A lot of my journey so far has been seeing if this the right route, the right denomination and the right way to do things for me in my life at the moment. It’s good to chat to other people to see what they think and hear their experiences. A lot of this has happened as my faith has grown and it’s very exciting.”
19 year old Rhys Minterne is an intern at St John’s Church in Hartley Witney. He commented, “I’ve been a Christian since I was 11 years old. There was a youth group at my school and the leader said ‘you live near the church, come down’. So, I went and I loved it, everyone was so welcoming and I really found a sense of home. I still say now, church feels like home to me. I love talking about God and teaching people. Whenever people ask, I tell them about him. I love the Bible and I love churches. They’re amazing buildings and have such history especially in the Church of England. I feel like I’ve had a calling to ministry. I’ve had so many dreams and I’m just really praying and trying to discover what God does want me to do. I’m nervous but excited to be here to find out more.”
During the evening the young people were told about the steps to ordination. They heard from two of the younger clergy in the benefice, Revd Jess Ross who is a curate at Andover Parishes and Revd Marc Allez from St Mark’s in Southampton. They shared their journey to ordination, the challenges of being a young person in ministry, breaking down stereotypes, juggling work with family life, and the joy the work brings. There was an opportunity to ask questions.
They also heard from Diocese Young Vocations Champions Revd David Roberts from Andover Parishes and Revd Helen May from St John’s, Hartley Witney. Both were called and ordained at a young age and their role is to encourage, enable and affirm other young people, thinking about a similar path.
The young people were also asked to consider what future support they would like from the team, with ideas including a possible book club or meeting for drinks and a chat.
Revd Helen felt she was called by God into the church at 11 years old. She was ordained when she was aged 30. She said, “It was through an event like this that I became ordained. I knew that I’d been called already and then I was invited to lead worship at a young vocations day for women. It was there, I heard other people’s stories and I was able to relate them to myself. Listening to people speak about their calling and the situations they had navigated, made me look at the barriers that I had put up around myself and to see where God was calling me. I had a long journey of thinking that I would never be able to do it and God did work in me. I still don’t know how I’m doing it, but God is good and gracious.”
She continued, “The young people here have got so much to give. They have such a passion and a drive. There are incredible things that all ages and stages give to the church, but I think having young people and their visions and their passions working for the church, in any kind of role, is important and something that we need to encourage.”
In the Church of England around a quarter of all ordinands beginning their training were aged under 32. The average age at the start of training is 42 years old.
Revd Canon Angi Nutt, Diocesan Director of Ordinands, said, “We feel it’s really important to encourage young people who are thinking about what God might be calling them to do, whether that might be ministry or something else. It’s often a time of change for them and they’re thinking about what they could be doing with their lives.
“The church went through a phase for a number of years of telling young people to go and get some life experience. Then, either they didn’t come back, or they came back a lot later and we discovered we’d missed out on a whole generation of clergy. So, over the last five to ten years, I think there’s been more of an emphasis on people coming and at least exploring early. It doesn’t mean that they have to start ministry at a young age, but many do, and they bring a lot of energy and new ideas and new thinking into their ministry as well. It’s great to see them flourish and become what God’s intended them to be.”
