Learning Journal 1 - On Coming to Trinity

Coming to Trinity college to train for ordination has been both an exciting and a daunting experience. After what felt like quite a long, drawn out process of going through selection, all of a sudden everything seemed to happen very quickly. I found out I had been recommended for training at the start of June, and over the course of the summer we chose our college, found somewhere to live in Bristol, found tenants for our house in Coventry, sorted out our finances and moved house. In other words everything came together remarkably smoothly and in a timely manner. It has been a real exercise in trusting God. At the start of the summer we may have been tempted to worry that everything would work out, but we have really known God’s provision and his guidance in getting us here. It gives me confidence that I am in the right place.

The first few weeks of college have rushed past. There was the initial excitement of getting to know people, finding out where everyone’s from etc. It has been comforting to know that everyone else is in the same boat, and reassuring to find that people are ‘normal’, from all walks of life, and don’t conform to any ‘Anglican vicar’ stereotype. Now we have settled in a bit we are starting to miss our friends and family from Coventry, which I guess is understandable. I am also starting to find out how busy I am. At first the academic timetable didn’t look too demanding, but I am discovering that once you add in all the other little bits of responsibility and expectations of college life, the week gets very full. I am learning about the tensions of balancing college and family life, something which I expect will be an ever present challenge as I go into ministry.