We are continuing the series of stories celebrating our soon-to-be Reverends as we start our ordination weekend at Guildford Cathedral, welcoming our newest priests this morning and then our newest deacons tomorrow. Today's story comes from Janet Williams.
How was Janet called?
I came to faith in my late teens/early twenties. Before training for ordination, I was a company lawyer and later became an employment solicitor. Also, I was a trustee for a couple of children’s charities.
I was in a free church for many years until 2019, when God called my husband and I into the Church of England. Little did I know that, not only would God place a call on my life, but that I would become a Children and Families Pastor too! WOW!
On my vocational journey, I have been influenced most by my husband, who, many years before, said that he believed I would become a neighbourhood pastor! My late parents, Rector and my Church Family, were instrumental in my journey too.
I was called by God at home during COVID when the Rector led the service in church alone and said on two separate occasions that he believed someone was being called to ordained ministry. I ignored it the first time, as you do! However, the second time, the feeling that God might be calling just would not go away. My husband said he felt the same!
Some weeks later, when I finally had the guts to send the Rector an email, imagine my surprise when he came back to me immediately and said that God had given him my name! I believe that this was the Holy Spirit at work, and, although I was fearful, I said, “Yes, Lord, yes to Your will and to Your way in my life.”
Leading online Alpha with my husband in September 2020 and still leading the subsequent Zoom Life Group five years later, along with the Children and Families Pastor role, helped to lead me to ordination. This has given me the opportunity to teach and bless children and adults about the love of Jesus, which is such a privilege.
I’m excited about the ministry ahead of me, even though I don’t have all the details yet. It’s wonderful when God calls us. God calls us individually. God loves us and will guide us and never let us go.
I would encourage you to pray and explore your vocational journey. There may be some struggles as everyday challenges keep coming, but Hebrews reminds us:
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23
This encourages us to continue to hope, because our God is faithful and can be trusted, always.