Heather Valletta is one of the new deacons being ordained at Guildford Cathedral on Sunday 2nd July and shares her story of being called to church ministry.
"Through discernment and training, as I have sought God, I began to understand that calling is itself a journey of discipleship. Reconciliation has been a theme that has run through my discipleship learning: to God, to myself, and to others, including my father, whom I met in June 2020 after being estranged for 32 years. My calling is to tell God’s story of how He has reconciled us to Himself, being part of His kingdom story, which is an offer extended to everyone.
Knowing that God had called me to ordained ministry was a gradual realisation that God had been preparing me for many years to come to this point. However, there was a very poignant moment at the first communion service after the first lockdown of the Covid pandemic. Our curate came to me, to administer and dropped a piece of bread into my hands, and I can only describe it as a clear voice which said, 'Feed my people'.
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19) I have returned to this verse again and again as a reminder that first and foremost I am called to be a disciple of Christ who desires to know and love Jesus more and more, and to know the fullness of God in my life and those around me."
Find out more about the ordination services taking place this year.