2024 Winter

Getting on for a decade ago, when I had been an LLM for four or five years, a letter from our bishop was forwarded to all members of the ministry team by our vicar. The message was that the diocese would soon stop financing ordination training for older candidates, so if any of us felt we might have a calling to the priesthood, and were in our mid-fifties or older, we should do something about it sooner rather than later. So I realised I needed to reflect and pray, and allow God to let me know the path I should take.

The answer came less than three days later. I received a call from Marion Gray, the then Chair of The Reader Editorial Board. ‘We know you are a Reader, and we know you are an editor. Would you like to meet us to the possibility of joining the Board?’

Well, that was a pretty clear answer! I did become a Board member, and knew quite soon that I would be applying for the editorship when a vacancy next arose.

I have come to realise that while my calling is to preach, teach and lead worship, it also includes publishing. I have been an editor for a long time but only since I became involved with CRC has that started to feel like vocation rather than mere tentmaking.

This experience has made me realise just how very varied vocations are. There is no ‘one size fits all’. God has made us fearfully and wonderfully. God has made every one of us different. Each of us has a vocation for which we have been uniquely equipped. I have much enjoyed reading the different accounts of calling shared by the contributors to this issue.

As Lynn Comer points out in her Postscript, the rest of the magazine relates to vocation in some way as well. Preaching is a major part of our calling as Readers/LLMs, and it was a delight (as well as a learning experience) for me to attend the Church Times Festival of Preaching in September. Megan Daffern looks at how we read the Bible, and Mark Brampton tackles the difficult subject of slavery. Helen Billam and Charlotte Sleigh demonstrate that science and faith need not be in conflict while Paul Cobb completes his triad of articles on doctrine and Adrian Rudd emphasises the importance of listening, and (in the book feature) Victoria Johnson invites us to consider how we use our voices.

Themes for next year include making Christ known in a secular world, pastoral responses to illness and suffering, the relevance of the Old Testament, and teaching and mentoring. Do get in touch with your ideas on any of these subjects – or any other topics that might be of interest.

Richenda