The Bishop held a meeting at his home last evening for candidates currently in the process of discerning a vocation. Also present were diocesan DDO and staff and staff from the diocesan ministry training scheme.

Around 30 candidates attended, which helps you appreciate that it is not just you! Lots of others, from all ages and backgrounds, are in the process of testing their vocation at different stages of the journey. The common denominator perhaps being that everyone's journey has been different and unique.

I met and spoke to many different people, and at the end, I struggled to remember my own name, let alone those who I had spoken to and socialized with. I also share many inspirational stores of how people came to where they are now.

Some that I spoke to, commented on the the length of time it seemed to take for them to both understand that they were being called and then plucking up the courage to actually speak to their Vicar about it. I also noted that some were a little impatient with the church seeming to take a long time in the discernment process. I could recognised this, remembering my own impatience at the start of this journey, but having received the gift of relaxing and waiting on God am content. This is a state which seems to hit different people at different stages of their journey.

Most motivational of all, were those present, who later in life had had the call and had gone on to be selected, trained and ordained and were now involved in training or supporting candidates in training, They resonated with me, especially those whose background was not necessarily academic or with a degree or background at that level.

One candidate is a lorry driver, which seems to me to demonstrate that God is indiscriminate in who or when he calls people. God calls who he will and needs for a particular tasks or times So there is hope yet for me.

What did I get from this meeting:

Along with the benefit of meeting so many other, like minded people, I shared wth people from diverse backgrounds, most of whom I would not normally meet. From lorry driver to the Bishop himself. The bishop’s ability to speak to any single person for a prolonged period, was limited by the numbers involved. It seems to me that this sort of meeting is most useful to all of us - it helps you to appreciate that you are not struggling on your own - others share the journey, so prayer for each other and the Bishop and Diocesan staff who are sharing the journey is really important. I came away from the meeting refreshed and affirmed that I am in the right place at the moment, the discernment process is not just about testing a vocation, it is also about growing and learning about yourself and absorbing Jesus much more deeply and centrally into your whole being.