It is very difficult to be a solitary Christian. Fellowship and common growth is one of the hallmarks of our faith, for we are called to be the body of Christ on earth.

Yet, sometimes churches can seem either overwhelming or stand-offish and remote. Either way, every church wants to make you welcome and it is important, for the sake of your spiritual wellbeing, to see what it is they are offering. Is there teaching, is there an energy, is there a sense of holy mystery as well as efficiency?

In England we are blessed with Church of England churches in every corner of the land, so that you can worship near to where you live. And, given the critical role your local church plays in the community (it often is the community), you can enrich not only yourself but your community as well by being an active part of your parish church.

Developing your faith over time is your goal, so that you can, literally, love and serve the Lord and those whom you know. Within your church you may spot an opportunity to serve in a way which makes the most use of your God-given talents. Don't take on too much. Is it not better to do something well, rather than overextend yourself?

And that opportunity to serve may be within church, helping with the worship, youth work, etc., or it may be representing the Church within your community, reaching out to help others, being a school governor, etc., etc. secure in the knowledge that you are supported by your church.

Asking some who are fulfilled in this serving role how they came in to it, the advice comes back to:

• Just be in the community for awhile. Don't hurry.
• Ask God what it is He would like you to do. Again, take your time.
• Speak to the most effective people about what needs doing.
• When you do put yourself forward, make it a commitment you have time for (as for the ability, don't worry, God rarely gives people tasks they cannot fulfil).

Here are some other opportunities...

Finding out about the Christian faith
Opportunities for service overseas and at home
Anglican voluntary societies
The licensed ministry
The Clergy Appointments Adviser
Providing financial support
New Start-the millennium in your community.

Current Job vacancies available within the National Institutions of the Church of England

Finding out about the Christian faith

The Christian Enquiry Agency works in association with all the major Christian churches in England and seeks to provide information to people who wish to find out more about the Christian faith but are not at present in touch with a local church. If asked, we can refer people who contact us to a local church or christian, but this is onlly done at the specific request of the enquirer.
www.christianity.org.uk

Opportunities for service overseas and at home

A useful compendium of opportunities, primarily short-term voluntary, is Opportunities for Service, the Vocations Office, Ministry Division, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3NZ, enclosing a stamped C5 envelope.

Anglican voluntary societies

Hereunder are just some of the organisations with strong links to the Church of England with well-developed volunteer or member programmes:

GFS Platform for Young Women
More than 200 voluntary support groups nation-wide dedicated to helping vulnerable young women.
http://www.tabor.co.uk/gfs/.
e-mail: [email protected]

The Children’s Society
The Society is one of the leading charities to work with children, young people and their families. Volunteers serve in a wide variety of ways.
http://www.the-childrens-society.org.uk.
e-mail: [email protected]

The Church Mission Society
http://www.cms-uk.org

The Mother’s Union
Concerned with all that strengthens and preserves marriage and Christian family life; more than 750,000 active members world-wide.
http://www.themothersunion.org
e-mail: [email protected]


The licensed ministry

Whilst everyone in the Church is called to ministry, there are public (or licensed) ministries of the Church of England which are, as the title suggests, nationally accredited. They are:

Ordained ministers

priest, preside at the sacraments, preach, teach and exercise pastoral care. If they are vicars of a parish, they, with their bishop, are responsible for the cure of souls of everyone living in that parish, which explains why priests are very often at the heart of a community’s life. Priests serve in a wide variety of roles: urban, rural and in many forms of chaplaincy. There are a wide variety of full-time/part-time packages. Generally, but not always, stipendiary priests are “full-time” and non-stipendiary priests are “worker priests”.

deacon, assists priests in this ministry and may also have a special responsibility in the wider community. Like priests, deacons can be either stipendiary or non-stipendiary. Generally a deacon serves a year before being priested; nevertheless, some deacons elect to remain as permanent deacons. Education is rigorous but flexible. Generally it is either two years at a theological college or three on a part-time/distance learning course.

Religious

Religious is a term which covers monks and nuns who respond to their calling within the framework of a community and from that base serve God in a rich variety of ways.
See the Anglican Religious Communities Year Book

Lay ministers

Lay ministers serve as pastoral care workers, counsellors, and educators and in many other ways.

readers, readers are lay people who bring their gifts of voluntary service to teaching, preaching, leading worship and pastoral care.
http://www.ampleforth.u-net.com/crc/
Church Army Officers, opportunities for evangelism and social work.

The point is that there are a considerable number of opportunities and ways to serve in the licensed ministry.

But am I a fit candidate?

There is the old saying that if you think yourself a fit candidate, you probably are not. Yet if somehow inside you, you want to serve our Lord and His people in a recognised, committed way, becoming a licensed minister is a very real possibility. In the first instance you should speak with the the diocesan director of ordinands or vocations adviser where you live. Their task is to welcome possible vocations. See: Where to find us.

Before you meet you might think about how you would fulfill the following criteria:

Ministry within the Church of England
you should be familiar with the CofE’s tradition and practice and be ready to work within them.

Vocation
Can you speak of your sense of vocation to ministry and mission, referring both to your own conviction and to the extent to which others have confirmed it? Your sense of vocation should be obedient, realistic and informed.

Faith
Can you show an understanding of the Christian faith and a desire to deepen your understanding? Can you demonstrate personal commitment to Christ and a capacity to communicate the Gospel.

Spirituality
Can you show evidence of a commitment to a spiritual discipline, involving individual and corporate prayer and worship? Your spiritual practice should be such as to sustain and energise your life daily.
personality and character
Are you sufficiently mature and stable, able to demonstrate that you are able to sustain the demanding role of a licensed minister, to face change and pressure in a flexible and balanced way? You should be seen as a person of integrity.

Relationships
Can you demonstrate self-awareness and self-acceptance as a basis for developing open and healthy professional, personal and pastoral relationships as a minister? You should be able to respect the will of the Church on matters of sexual morality.

Leadership and collaboration
Are you able to offer leadership in the Church community and wider? This ability includes the capacity to offer an example of faith and discipleship, to collaborate effectively with others.

Quality of mind
You will want to be comfortable with the notion of completing satisfactorily a course of theological study and ministerial preparation which you will need to cope with the demands.

For further explanation of the possibilities and opportunities, examine Professional Ministry.

The Clergy Appointments Adviser

The Clergy Appointments Adviser has been appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to assist clergy, both from overseas and in England, to find suitable new appointments, and also to assist patrons and others responsible for making appointments to find suitable candidates. The Adviser has the responsibility to assist beneficed and unbeneficed clergy, men and women, together with deaconeses and accredited lay workers. The Adviser produces a list of vacancies for incumbencies team posts, assistant curates and specialised ministries. Visit the Clergy Appointments Adviser's Web Site.

Providing Financial Support

Under UK charity law, you can actually instruct the taxman to increase the value of your contribution by almost a third if you take out a covenant. Contact the Diocesan Secretary, Where to find us, or other official as appropriate for more details.

And in preparing for your death, you may wish to consider the Church, not in a specific bequest, but to have what is left over when all your bequests are fulfilled. If that idea appeals, you simply to instruct your lawyers that you wish to leave your residual to your local Church, CofE school or any other part of the Church of England as you wish. The residual is simply what is left of your estate after all other bequests have been made.

- the Millennium in your community