I've always had a sense of calling to ordained ministry, but assumed that either God or I had got it wrong!

Ordained deacon in July 2022 | Ordained priest in July 2023

I'm Elliot, and for almost all of my 32 years I've lived in Swadlincote, South Derbyshire.

I'll be ordained in July 2022 as the new curate for the Dronfield with Holmesfield Parish, and Megan and I are really looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us up there!

We're particularly looking forward to engaging with young people, music, and bridging connections with the parish's five churches.

Although I've been a "Christian" for my whole life, it wasn't until I was 13 when I first encountered the Holy Spirit that I began to have a true relationship with Jesus – showing me the errors of my adolescent mischief but surrounding me with his love and grace.

God has never failed to be with me even through my darker days, and more than ever I know that he is strong when I am weak.

To some extent, I've always had a sense of calling to ordained ministry, but assumed that either God or I had got it wrong!

For a long time I wanted to be a psychiatrist/therapist, hoping to help people by helping them understand themselves better; but academia wasn't my friend as a teenager and I never went to uni, instead I worked in electronics for a decade.

During this time, my role at church grew and expanded – worship leader, youth leader, PCC member, preacher, etc – but it wasn't until I proposed to Megan in 2016 that I felt the call to ordination reawaken, and felt a fresh outpouring of God's grace amongst my many failures and weaknesses.

Three years of patience, discernment, support from friends and family, and finally a thumbs-up from the Bishop's Advisory Panel, and we were off to train at Trinity College Bristol, and earn that degree I'd missed out on the first time around!

So here we are, on the brink of ordination, (which is both exciting and terrifying!) and I've never been so sure that God has amazing plans for us to bring his kingdom on earth, alongside amazing people to share this calling with.

A particular passion of mine is helping others to see their own calling, and hopefully helping them grow into the person God made them to be, so let’s get started together!

Favourite Bible verse: Psalm 23 has always had a special place in my heart, and helped me know God even in the valleys. But, as clichéd as it is, John 3:16 for me summarises the whole gospel in one verse: God lovingly and graciously gave his Son that we may have life to the full.

Favourite worship song: "So Will I" by Hillsong, which not only beautifully speaks of God's creation and Jesus's redemption of the world, but declares how I will respond in worship and service to him. "I can see your heart eight billion different ways, every precious one a child you died to save. If you gave your life to love them, so will I."