About me
I am an Anglican priest, and chaplain to the University of York. Since ordination in 2005 I have also worked in an inner-city parish and as a hospital chaplain, both in Leicester. I moved to York in 2010. Since 2013 I've also been a member of the Church of England's General Synod, the governing body which makes the laws and decides the policy. I never thought I'd say this, but I really enjoy it- not least the chance to meet Anglicans whose perspective is completely different from mine, and whom I couldn't imagine getting to know in any other context. To be there on the day we voted through the final legislation to enable women to become bishops was pretty special.
I have wanted to be ordained since I was 17. In those days it seemed like an unimaginably distant possibility for a woman, and I was 37 when it finally became a reality. But nothing that happened in between was wasted.
I loved (and still love) languages, so that's what I studied at university- mainly German, with a bit of French and a bit of linguistics. The linguistics has come in very useful since; a lot of a priest's time is spent communicating, either trying to understand God or understand people, or interpreting the one to the other. One day I'm going to write something about the theology of linguistics, but that had to stay on the back burner while I was getting my PhD finished. Perhaps I can get on with it now. I can't say I've made much use of my knowledge of mediaeval German literature, but it was fun to do.
I come from a high-achieving academic family, and for 22 years I thought human worth was measured in exam results. After I graduated, I wanted to do something that wasn't about academic potential. I spent a year working part-time in a nursing home for people with Alzheimer's, and from there I went on to spend 2 years in the L'Arche community in Liverpool, living alongside people with learning and physical disabilities. That was also where I first met the Franciscans- and after anoth4er couple of years working for Mencap in London, I went to join the Community of St Francis, where I stayed for 7 years. During that time I lived in Somerset, London, Birmingham and Staffordshire. I worked with students and young people, and learnt to lead retreats and quiet days. I also wrote a book about Franciscan spirituality, A Condition of Complete Simplicity (Canterbury Press, 2003). That made me look at the early sources for the lives of Francis and Clare, and started the process towards becoming a PhD student- but this time on my own terms, because this was something I cared about and wanted to learn more about, not because of anyone else's expectations. Writing the book also helped to show me that I really wasn't living the Franciscan ideal as they had envisaged it- so I left the order in 2003, started ordination training, and the rest is history...
I have wanted to be ordained since I was 17. In those days it seemed like an unimaginably distant possibility for a woman, and I was 37 when it finally became a reality. But nothing that happened in between was wasted.
I loved (and still love) languages, so that's what I studied at university- mainly German, with a bit of French and a bit of linguistics. The linguistics has come in very useful since; a lot of a priest's time is spent communicating, either trying to understand God or understand people, or interpreting the one to the other. One day I'm going to write something about the theology of linguistics, but that had to stay on the back burner while I was getting my PhD finished. Perhaps I can get on with it now. I can't say I've made much use of my knowledge of mediaeval German literature, but it was fun to do.
I come from a high-achieving academic family, and for 22 years I thought human worth was measured in exam results. After I graduated, I wanted to do something that wasn't about academic potential. I spent a year working part-time in a nursing home for people with Alzheimer's, and from there I went on to spend 2 years in the L'Arche community in Liverpool, living alongside people with learning and physical disabilities. That was also where I first met the Franciscans- and after anoth4er couple of years working for Mencap in London, I went to join the Community of St Francis, where I stayed for 7 years. During that time I lived in Somerset, London, Birmingham and Staffordshire. I worked with students and young people, and learnt to lead retreats and quiet days. I also wrote a book about Franciscan spirituality, A Condition of Complete Simplicity (Canterbury Press, 2003). That made me look at the early sources for the lives of Francis and Clare, and started the process towards becoming a PhD student- but this time on my own terms, because this was something I cared about and wanted to learn more about, not because of anyone else's expectations. Writing the book also helped to show me that I really wasn't living the Franciscan ideal as they had envisaged it- so I left the order in 2003, started ordination training, and the rest is history...