On Sunday 30th June, twelve new priests are to be ordained at Coventry Cathedral by Bishop Ruth. The new priests have already served as deacons for a year. On their ordination as priests they will remain in their present parishes while their on-going training continues.
Matthew Arnold
Matthew is serving his curacy in the Benefice of Edgehill, a group of six churches in rural, southern Warwickshire. Matthew, his wife Lynn and their little boy Clement have enjoyed a tremendously kind welcome across the benefice, and it has been great fun to get involved as a family within the life and mission of the church and indeed parish life.
It has been a wonderfully formative year for Matthew having been afforded the privilege of so many opportunities to take part in the ministry of the church, joining together with people in their walk with God, in community & fellowship and in the wrestling and study of scripture within the context.
It has been a year of building relationships with many new friends, learning the lie of land, and noticing together where God is visibly at work. Matthew has been learning to grow into the declarations of the ordinal as a deacon and determining what this means within the mission of God in Edgehill. It has been a significant transition from working previously within Service Engineering at Jaguar Land Rover, to studying theology and now the practical ministry of the diaconate – it’s been a great challenge of pace, capacity and conviction, and an absolute joy.
Matthew has particularly enjoyed the variety that rural ministry calls for, from schools work and ministry with young people, to supporting pastorally, leading worship, occasional offices and civic occasions. Looking ahead to the ordination into priesthood, it is a time of preparation and enormous anticipation, especially the occasion to lead people together at the Lord’s Supper.
Matthew is indebted to, and enormously thankful to Lynn & Clement, his family and friends, Barry Jackson his training incumbent, and a gracious ministry team and church who continue to encourage and support him as he grows in his vocation.
April Gold
April is a curate at Hillmorton. She is a self-supporting minister in full time employment as Diocesan Director of Education. She is licensed to serve part time in the parish of Hillmorton alongside her husband Steve, who is her training incumbent. April’s main focus of ministry is her “day job” serving the children, young people, staff and governors in our 76 CofE schools. This year she has been keeping the Alive 2023 party going through our diocesan partnership with i-Sing-POP who have been working with schools and parishes as they journey together to learn about Jesus. April has begun work with headteachers to quantify the increasingly complex needs of children and families. She is excited to see how this work will enable our schools to design and deliver an education full of hope and aspiration for all children in their local community.
April co-leads St Gabriel’s Church, one of the two churches in the parish, who meet in St Gabriels CofE Academy on a Sunday afternoon. She is encouraged by worshipping with the children and young people (and their families) who have found a church family at St Gabriel’s. She has been part of the Thrive Manifesto group imagining what 21st century youth work might look like at Houlton the new development within the parish.
April is excited to see what God will do next both at the DBE and in the parish as he continues to build his Church calling and equipping new disciples (young and old) to change the world together.
Robin Griffiths
Robin is curate at St James’, Bulkington. Having moved from London last year, he’s grateful for the way he’s been adopted into the community both in Bulkington and in the wider diocese. He is particularly grateful for his TI and his new friends who understand and accept his neurodiversity. This has really helped him settle in the Midlands.
Robin has enjoyed the wide range of opportunities in parish ministry including school ministry, occasional offices and regular and festival liturgies covering a whole breadth of styles, from informal all age worship to the Book of Common Prayer.
Robin is passionate about community building and is an enthusiastic supporter of the variety of activities which takes place in the church building such as coffee mornings, toddler groups, concerts and the food bank. He has also been keen to take part in community life outside of the church walls and really enjoys the conversations which take place in the library, café, pub and just on the street.
He has found it be a profound privilege to walk alongside people in difficult pastoral situations, especially through funeral ministry. As he moves towards priesting, Robin is looking forward to sharing the Eucharist as it is a central part of his spirituality.
Joshua Grimwood
Josh has greatly enjoyed his first year of curacy at St James Styvechale. He is very grateful to the church for the warm welcome he received, even a year into the role he still hasn’t managed to keep up with all the dinner invitations he has received!
As well as the church community, Josh has enjoyed being able to flex his ministry muscles in the various ministries at St James as well as taking on new opportunities to journey with people in times of joy, sickness and death. He is very grateful for the support of his incumbent, also called Josh.
Highlights include launching a new evening service, beginning with a fish and chip supper, restarting a light party, and hosting a pancake party for the local families. Running a small alpha course was also a highlight. It was a particular joy to experience his first Christmas and Easter as an ordained minister.
Josh has found a particular joy in the day-to-day activities of leading worship, joining in with the community café and youth group.
Emma Harrington
Emma is a curate in the parish of Stratford-upon-Avon, serving in the three churches of the parish: Holy Trinity, Stratford; St. Helen’s, Clifford Chambers; and All Saints’, Luddington. Emma is grateful for the warm welcome she has received from everyone and considers it a privilege to have been involved in so many aspects of ministry over the past year. She is also very grateful for the patience of her Training Incumbent, Patrick, in answering her many questions as she has been learning to inhabit a tradition that is new to her.
Emma has enjoyed the breadth of ministry in the parish; from large civic occasions such as the annual Shakespeare service to pastoral encounters with individuals, from writing a new leaflet on serving in church to leading choral evensong for the first time. Although perhaps the most memorable is being asked to bless a box of onions on her way back from leading a service.
Emma is excited to be taking the next step in her journey and is anticipating with joy being able to preside at Holy Communion. Emma feels very blessed to be walking in God’s calling for her life and is looking forward to what God has in store for her in the year ahead. For all that has been, thanks. For all that is to come, yes.
Rebecca Henney
Becca is a curate at St Laurence’s, Foleshill. Becca has spent the first year of curacy getting stuck into church life and is so grateful for the warm welcome she has had. From Food Bank and Messy Church to pastoral visits and Sunday mornings, no two days are entirely the same.
Her personal highlights so far have been seeing more than 100 local school children take part in Easter and Christmas services, inviting people to a community barbecue, helping out at the Food Bank and walking with families as they prepare their children to be baptised. Not to mention, St Laurence’s has an unofficial motto of ‘no meeting without eating’, which she has found to be a huge blessing!
As she approaches her priesting, she is looking forward to continuing those faith journeys alongside people in the congregation and praying for more and more opportunities to tell people in the parish about the radical, life changing love of Jesus.
Julie Lindsay
Julie has really enjoyed her first year as a curate in the Alcester Minster, where she is serving as a self-supporting minister. She has been part of some of the exciting new things happening in the Rural Hub and has also been involved in leading new missional and worshipping ventures.
She has received overwhelming support from colleagues at the Ministry of Justice where she works as a chief operating officer and has recently taken up a chaplaincy post to a cross-civil service group for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse. Julie is able and encouraged to share her ministry in everything from contributing to the design and delivery of significant strategies to strengthen inclusion, diversity, and equality across the department to being able to pray with and for others which she feels privileged to be able to do.
In her parishes, she has been able to be involved in leading more pastoral services and has recently helped to lead marriage preparation across the deanery with some of the couples whom she will marry later this summer. As the line manager of the Children and Families worker, Julie is passionate about nurturing and supporting children and families and is helping to lead a Youth Alpha which will hopefully lead some of the teenagers in being confirmed in the summer.
Julie is very grateful for all the love, prayers, and support she has received from across the Minster and the support she has had from the local ministry team as well as from deanery chapter colleagues.
Cerys Smith
For the past year Cerys has been serving her curacy in the parishes of St Mary Magdalene's, Lillington and St James, Old Milverton. This is not where she thought she would be serving her curacy, but it is where God wants her to be. This year has been a year of service to the congregations and wider parish communities and Cerys has loved every minute of it!
Over the last year, Cerys has lead services for an Advent community initiative and a Ukraine memorial service. She has brought Holy Communion to those who can’t get to church and regularly visited nursing homes, either singing hymns, which is great fun, or a service of Holy Communion. She has also stepped out of her comfort zone and been involved in work with schools and children’s groups. Cerys has also started taking funerals and feels privileged to support and walk alongside those who grieve.
Cerys says she will always be a deacon, serving these communities and others she called to, but is looking forward to what the next year brings as a priest. She hopes to enable encounters of reconciliation with God through celebrating Holy Communion and sharing God’s love and forgiveness with all.
Therefore, as she comes to the end of her first year as a curate, she has a lot to be thankful for. She is thankful for William, her TI, having said yes to having her as his curate, for the welcome she received when she arrived, the care and support the congregations have given her over the last year, the grace to learn and develop, and she is thankful for being part of these communities.
Helen Smith
Helen is a curate at Wellesbourne and Walton. It has been an interesting and exciting 12 months for Helen, and she has thoroughly enjoyed the first year of her curacy. Life as a deacon has involved ministering to the communities and congregations of Wellesbourne and Walton through baptisms and funerals, working with children and young people, and leading a wide variety of services from informal café-church style worship to BCP Evensong. Highlights have included the Crib and Christingle Service in St Peter’s on Christmas Eve, where the packed church shared the light of Christ and enjoyed a very entertaining puppet show from our young people.
Within the last year, Helen has begun to develop a deep longing to nurture prayer within her congregations, helping with the running of the 24-hour prayer event Breathe24, creating prayer stations within the church for Thy Kingdom Come, and finding new ways for the church members to support each other in prayer. There have also been opportunities for Helen to combine her love of creation with mission outreach in events such as the Harvest Festivals and a recent Pet Blessing Service.
Helen feels incredibly privileged to be able to minister within the two parishes and is thankful for all the help and support that she receives from her husband Jason and son Edward, and from vicar Greg and all the members of both churches. Wellesbourne and Walton are wonderful places to work, and Helen feels that she could not have asked for a better place to complete her curacy. She is looking forward to the new adventure of being a priest, and of continuing her journey in Christ, wherever it may take her.
Dee Badland
Dee Badland is a curate at All Saints Church in Bedworth, where her passion for funeral ministry and her pastoral heart truly shine. Dee finds immense joy in her community outreach, where her clerical collar often serves as a beacon, inviting people to engage with her and allowing her to speak into their lives. This unique aspect of her role has been both surprising and deeply rewarding for Dee.
Dee treasures the diverse experiences that priestly ministry offers, understanding the importance of adaptability and spontaneity in her work. Whether it's being there for a grieving family or leading a vibrant community event, Dee embraces each moment with a readiness to learn and grow.
Her family is a cornerstone of her support system. With a loving husband and wonderful children by her side, Dee feels blessed to balance her home life and her calling. In addition to her pastoral duties, Dee is an avid baker. Her kitchen is often filled with the delightful aroma of cakes and pastries, which she generously shares with those in need or sells to support charitable causes.
Dee’s love for people is evident to everyone she meets, and her warm personality leaves a lasting impression. As she continues her journey in ministry, Dee looks forward to the countless opportunities ahead to serve and share the transformative love of Jesus with her community.
Helen Merrigan
Helen is a curate in self-supporting ministry in the Parish of Hillmorton, with her main focus as the community of St John the Baptist. Although this parish isn’t a new one to Helen and her husband, she has found the transition to the role of curate an interesting change, challenging at times and enjoyable.
Helen is still working as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in a GP surgery for 28hrs per week but this is likely to change in the next 12 months when she hopes to be able to give more time to parish ministry.
Prior to ordination Helen was a Lay Reader and so was already familiar with leading and preaching so is has been a particular joy to be involved in the new aspects of ordained ministry including baptism and funeral ministry and she is excited to be involved in a wedding service in September with more booked for next year.
Helen is continually encouraged to see how God is already busy in different people's lives, especially those with no prior contact with church e.g a young man who simply turned up at the 8am eucharist service (which is usually attended by about 5 older people) and asked to be baptised! It is a joy that we as Christ's body can come alongside to support and serve people on their journey.
Helen is looking forward to seeing what God will continue to do in both St John's and St Gabriel's in the next few years as well as how God will develop her new priestly ministry as she continues her curacy.
John Samuel
John is a curate at St Martin in the Field, Finham. John has felt very welcomed by the church community.
St Martin’s is a very busy church. John serves in the church café once a week for four hours. He enjoys serving in the café and taking every opportunity to share the gospel with people in a very informal way. St Martins holds three different style services, John enjoys leading and preaching in these services. They have given him a varied perspective on leadership. He is also gaining experience in youth and toddler ministry
John has learnt much from his training incumbent, Matthew Taylor. He also enjoys working alongside fellow curate, Matt Ford. John believes working at St. Martin's has shaped him significantly. He is hugely thankful to Matthew Taylor and St Martin’s community.