Admissions 2022 Members' Area
  • Events
  • Study Here
    • Overview
    • Admissions
    • Dates of term 2022-23
    • Entry Requirements
    • Prospectus 2022-23
    • Gallery
    • How To Apply
    • Our Locations
    • Fees, Finance & Bursaries
    • Our Students
    • Projects & Placements
    • Fitting theology study around your life
    • Support with study skills
    • Life at St Augustine’s
  • Courses
    • Our Courses
    • Taster Module in Biblical Studies
    • MA Taster Module
    • Ordained Ministry Training
    • Certificate in Theology, Ministry and Mission
    • Diploma & BA in Theology, Ministry & Mission
    • Graduate Studies
    • Postgraduate Studies
    • Licensed Lay Ministry
    • Post-ordination Training
    • Biblical Languages
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Fundraising
    • Overview
    • The Friends of St Augustine’s
    • Tattersall Bursary Fund
  • Shop
  • About
    • About Us
    • History
    • Governance & Structure
    • Staff
    • Honorary Fellows
    • PhD Students & Research Fellows
    • Alumni
    • Policies
  • Contact
01732 252 656 office@staugustinescollege.ac.uk
Follow us online Visit us on Facebook Visit us on Twitter Visit us on Instagram
St Augustine's College of Theology, Transforming formation
  • Admissions 2022
    • Events
  • Menu

HomePostsMeet the studentsBen’s Story

Aug 18 Posted by admin. Under Meet the students,

Ben is an ordinand studying part-time at Trinity House, Southwark, and West Malling Abbey, St Augustine’s College of Theology. We asked him to tell us a bit about himself, and what being a student here means to him.

In my secular job I work for Serco, running their in-house think tank and philanthropic arm. During the coronavirus pandemic that has involved setting up a support fund for small charities and community groups, which has been inspiring.

My religious background is quite varied. My wife’s family are Roman Catholic and Buddhist, and I was brought up Jewish. I was baptised in my late teens, and quite quickly started to wonder about ordination, but I didn’t feel I had much to offer at that age!

Since graduating 12 years ago I’ve worked in the civil service and the Houses of Parliament, and in a school and a college. I’ve also been lucky to hold a range of voluntary roles, including running a charity which I founded, and being a school governor. Apart from singing in choirs, I didn’t have any church leadership role in particular.

In 2015 I stood for Parliament, and lost – as I knew I would. What was particularly interesting during that experience was that I hated having to make it all about myself – the social media, the press notices – but loved engaging with all parts of the community – especially those who, historically, hadn’t had much voice. I remember talking to a vicar friend who said, “you’re realising what a lot of us have known for a while – you’re meant to be a priest.”

Other people kept encouraging me, too, but I was waiting to hear it from God! Then a good friend who is a retired clergyman looked me in the eye and told me that sometimes God talks to us through other people. That’s when I contacted the Diocese.

Why St Augustine’s College of Theology

As I went through the formal process of discernment it became clear to me that I didn’t see my priestly calling as a new ‘career’ or something that meant turning my back on my secular life. For me, there was a really powerful call to be part of ‘the church in the world’.

So I wanted to train alongside full-time work and carry on working in the secular world once trained. That’s still quite rare in the Church of England. I visited several other colleges – they were wonderful places but didn’t feel quite right for me. Then I met Alan, and realised he would help make this work.

I felt that St Augustine’s College of Theology is incredibly open to a diversity of ordinands and callings, and this diversity of life experience leads to a greater diversity of ministerial experience.

There are increasing numbers of us who feel that ministry can work alongside employment, and that there are strong theological models and rationales for that.

How is your course helping to shape your leadership?

There’s an incredible reality to studying at St Augustine’s; having the opportunity to combine study and prayer with real-life adds to the formative experience.

It’s hugely enriching to study alongside people who aren’t like me, and whose experience of going to church is wildly different from mine. We will be called to minister to all types of people, so that diversity of worship experience is very valuable, and I’ve formed deep and long-lasting friendships with people I wouldn’t otherwise have met.

I’m trusting that God knows how I will combine a secular career with a ministerial role on the future – because I don’t yet. I certainly don’t know what it’s going to look like in five or ten years’ time.

What I do understand is that my calling is two-fold, with the workplace itself being part of the ministry –ministering alongside people as a worker priest. It means ministry isn’t something we ‘do to people’. We walk with them.

That’s one of the reasons why being able to study part-time and non-residential is important to me. We study the same modules as those at residential colleges, with exceptional staff and plenty of academic rigour. But to me, being able to combine my secular work and life with formation is incredibly important. After all, if ministry is about people, why wouldn’t we be where many of them spend 5/7 of their life?

Share

Previous Post: New on-line audio course – Windows of Hope
Next Post: Emma’s Story

Categories

  • From the Principal
  • Fundraising
  • Latest News
  • Meet the alumni
  • Meet the staff
  • Meet the students
  • Meet the trustees
  • Newsletter
  • Online course
  • Reflections
  • Sermons and Talks
  • Study theology
  • Vacancies
  • Virtual Retreat

Month Archive

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021

Subscribe

Subscribe to our blog to get email updates whenever we publish a new article.

By signing up to receive blog alerts you agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy

St Augustine's College of Theology
52 Swan Street, West Malling, Kent, ME19 6JX
01732 252 656
office@staugustinescollege.ac.uk
Sign up to get our news
Follow us online Visit us on Facebook Visit us on Twitter Visit us on Instagram
© Copyright 2022 St Augustine's College of Theology Registered in England No. 1758668 Charity Registration No. 288011
  • Policies
  • Diversity Statement
  • Moodle login

Sign up to get news and updates straight to your inbox