Hello! As many of you know, I’ve got a bit of a career change coming up – I’m going to be leaving my current job working as a software developer and am instead going to spend a year or two working for St Paul’s Harringay as a Ministry Trainee from 1st September 2022.

While I’m working there I’ll be posting updates (probably monthly) about what I’m up to. Although I haven’t started yet, I thought I’d post an update now giving some context for why I’m doing this and what I hope to be getting up to from September.

I’ve broken this update into a few sections:

• Why are you doing this?
• What will you be doing?
• How will you be funding it?
• Can you let me know when you post an update?
• How can I be praying for you?

Why are you doing this?

My main reason for wanting to be a trainee at St Paul’s is to work out if I should do full-time ministry on a long-term basis. Ever since I graduated in 2014 I’ve been thinking and wondering on and off about full-time ministry, and I think it’s time to give it a go and see what happens.

I'm keen to learn first-hand what ministry is like day to day – to see what work is involved and whether my personality and skills are a good match for what’s required. It will be useful to see how Pete approaches his role as vicar, and to get his thoughts how well I’d be suited to different ministry paths.

I also hope being a ministry trainee will cause me to grow in my own love for God and knowledge of him. I’d love to grow in my understanding of the Bible and to get more opportunities to open it up with other people, give talks, and share it with non-Christians. And I'll take these things with me for the rest of my life, regardless of whether I continue in ministry afterwards or go back to working as a developer.

Frankly, I’m also really excited at the prospect of having a year where my 9-5 job is explicitly to serve God and his people. Since Courtney and I had kids I’ve been finding it harder to find the time to do this as much as I’d like, and I’ve also felt my world getting a little smaller recently as responsibilities at home and work have increased. So being a ministry trainee will give me an opportunity to hit the reset button on that and get more involved in church life.

There are many other reasons I could give, but I think ultimately it boils down to the question of: if I believe the gospel is true (I do) and there’s a chance I could be suited to doing full-time ministry (there is), then why would I not take a year or two out to properly see how well-suited I’d be to ministry? That’s what’s been on my mind, and I think being a trainee at St Paul’s will be a great way to answer that.

What will you be doing?

Most of my week will be spent working for St Paul’s. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the sort of things I’ll be doing:

• Reading the Bible 1:1 with other church members, helping with midweek Bible study groups
• Joining the St Paul’s door knocking team as they go out and get to know their neighbours
• Helping with the youth group St Paul’s have recently started
• Helping practically with the running of the Sunday services

Then I’ll spend 1 day a week studying at the Cornhill Training Course, where I’ll be learning about how to understand the Bible and how to teach it to others.

How will you be funding it?

In order to make the year work financially, Courtney and I have had a look at our household budget and have worked out what we’ll need to keep the lights on for the year. A good chunk of this will be covered by the salary St Paul’s are paying me (I’m very grateful for St Paul’s for the fact that they pay their apprentices!) That, combined with Courtney’s salary, money we’ve saved up, child benefit, and support from family mean that we don’t currently need to raise any money from anywhere else. However, we are extremely thankful to God for those who have got in touch to say they’d be willing to support us!

That said, it may turn out that in a couple of months we find that the budget we’ve set is unrealistic (Orla does eat a lot of crisps), in which case I may need to fundraise a little after all.

Can you let me know when you post an update?

Every time I post an update I’ll send a link with a summary out as an email. If you’d like me to add you to that email, please fill in this form. I promise I will keep your email private and won't send you any spam! (unless an online poker company makes me an offer I can't refuse)

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How can I be praying for you?

I would love your prayers! Here are a few things:

• Give thanks that we’re settling in well at St Paul’s as part of the church family (ahead of me working there from September)
• Give thanks for St Paul’s being willing to have me and supporting me financially
• Ask that the MT role will help me grow in my love for God. But also that I will be proactive now in my spiritual growth (rather than thinking I can tread water until September)
• Ask that God will be preparing my heart for September – that I will be excited to serve others and learn about full-time ministry.