I have particularly been able to focus in on Disability Theology

Ordained deacon in July 2022 | Ordained priest in July 2023

Hi, I’m Sam! I’m originally from down south in rural Gloucestershire, you may be imagining cheese-rolling and Hot Fuzz, and I wouldn’t want to stop you thinking that!

For the last three years I’ve been living in Birmingham and training at the Queen’s Foundation.

From the breadth of study within Theology, Ministry and Mission and my own research, I have particularly been able to focus in on Disability Theology.

This comes from my own identity as a disabled person but also the joy of exploring the vastness of Jesus Christ.

Gradually travelling north, I left for Herefordshire to train in graphic design.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have developed a lot of church branding, websites and posters over the years.

It was also during this time I started to discern where God was calling me.

Having explored religious life (being a nun!), and working full-time praying for people over the phone, I decided to work for a year in a parish church in Hereford.

The idea of being a priest completely terrified me but I kept exploring what this might look like!

[Somewhere in this time I had my next-door neighbour tell me that she didn’t believe women should be ordained.

Rather surprisingly, this is the clearest moment I felt God calling me. Instead of feeling threatened by this, it lit a fire in me, giving me a deeper knowing that God was calling me to become a priest.]

Before coming to Birmingham, I had the joy of getting to be a part of the Chaplaincy team at Keele University.

It was there that I started to more seriously embrace God’s call to ordained ministry, where I had the privilege and the invitation to travel with those in their everyday experiences - a ministry of reaching those on the margins and a practicing to be a visible reminder of God’s love through hospitality.

On days off I’m likely to be exploring Derbyshire countryside with my trusty camera, cooking with friends, or print making.

It’s with this mixture of experience that I come to be ordained deacon, very excited and possibly a little less terrified than before.

I look forward to serving as curate across Swadlincote Minister.

Favourite Bible verse: I always love the passages which involve food and where we get the reminder that God came to be with us. Jesus’ meal with Zacchaeus does both these things, where He says: ‘“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”’ (Luke 19:10)

Favourite hymn: Very difficult to pick one, but I always love a song that gets everyone singing with enthusiasm. So I’ll go for: Tell Out, My Soul.