In just a couple of weeks, we will welcome our newest clergy into the diocese. It's always an exciting time of year as we approach our ordination services and celebrate the individuals who have been called to serve God in our part of the Church of England and the wider global Church.
The weekend of Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 June will see Guildford Cathedral play host to hundreds of friends and family cheering on the latest cohort of priests and deacons as they are ordained into the Church of England by the Bishops of Guildford and Dorking.
On Saturday 28 June, our new priests will be ordained by the Rt Revd Paul Davies, the Bishop of Dorking, followed by the Rt Revd Andrew Watson, the Bishop of Guildford, ordaining our new deacons on Sunday 29 June. Both days are very special for all involved, but the Sunday is a particularly momentous occasion as it sees the deacon candidates officially take on the role as ministers in the Church of England and the title of Reverend.
To celebrate the individual journeys taken to get to this point, we will be sharing a series of stories of the soon-to-be Reverends over the next couple of weeks. Today we start with Tori Biutanaseva.
How was Tori called?
Raised in a Christian family, I was inspired by the faith of my Grandma who, although uneducated, lived the Gospel shining with the love of Christ. Our home was a hub for visiting evangelists, such as Terry and Ginny Bridle, who travelled ‘behind the Iron Curtain’ preaching the Gospel. From 5 years old, I aspired to be a Pastor’s wife (women were not pastors) or a missionary. However, I felt that these occupations were reserved for the ‘chosen elite’, rather than someone like me.
After training as a teacher, I worked in inner city London and volunteered for XLP, a charity that works with marginalised young people. Its CEO, Patrick Regan, encouraged me to train as a youth worker. I felt called to prison chaplaincy but not to the priesthood. After working for a mentoring charity in Feltham Young Offenders’ Institute, I was miraculously offered the job of Assistant Chaplain, a post I held for 9 years.
I soon felt a call to ordained ministry, which I ignored for many years. Eventually, I spoke with the other chaplains, who affirmed this calling. That Sunday, I attended St Stephen’s Church where Bishop Andrew was then vicar. The service was on ‘calling to ordination’ and Bishop Andrew invited me to attend a course for those exploring ordination. He suggested recommending me to the Bishop, but I was pregnant with my eldest daughter, Talei (now 18), and my husband, Joe, worked overseas.
Over the years, this sense of calling remained, but there was always something that stood in the way: twins (Lilibet and Litiana, who are now 14), a husband who worked overseas, etc. However, when my then-conservative evangelical vicar told me that he wanted to recommend me to the Bishop, I knew that I had run out of excuses. I was working as a Families Minister at All Saints’ Laleham when I started my discernment journey.
My training has been incredibly formative. I have grown in knowledge, understanding and confidence. I am looking forward to stepping further outside of my comfort zone and engaging with a very different type of community. I am looking forward to observing what God is doing in the community and seeing how I, along with the church community, can join in.
I would encourage anyone who is considering exploring ordination to watch and listen; to have discerning conversations with Godly people.
My favourite passage is:
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. This verse has sustained me through life’s challenges, bringing me hope.
Proverbs 3:5-6