As Christians, we are called to live out our faith through our words, deeds and actions. This might be in how we respond to a difficult conversation at work, the way in which we engage with a stranger in the street or choosing to say nothing at just the right moment. Two people in the Diocese of Chester share their thoughts on how they live out their faith day-to-day.
The Revd Dr Jenny McKay, Great Budworth
Jenny is a self-supporting minister in a secular setting: her workplace. She heads up a team of 12 veterinary pathologists working in a lab and sharing all of the normal ups and downs a workplace brings.
Jenny says: “People know I’ve trained to be a priest and they do tend to ask about pastoral things. I’ll have conversations in the coffee room, and I’ll ask them about their weekend. It opens up the opportunity for deeper conversations.
“It’s important that as Christians we’re confident and bold enough to share our faith every day of the week. I would encourage all Christians to look for those opportunities to share what you believe. You can bring it into conversations quite casually by simply telling someone you went to church on Sunday – sometimes that’s all people need for them to ask questions and start a conversation.”
The Revd Dr Jenny McKay, Great Budworth
Chris Jarvis, Youth Worker, Bebington
Chris Jarvis is a Youth Worker in Bebington and leads a Christian union group at a local school. It’s an opportunity to eat together, play games and use some of the lunch hour to discuss a topic from a Christian perspective.
Chris says relationship and patience are important to his ministry.
One student with no connection with the church came along to the lunchtime gathering with some Christian friends. After a period of months getting to know her and building up a friendship, Chris gently invited her to attend a prayer group. She didn’t come, initially.
To Chris, the social stigma attached to being a young Christian in school can be a barrier. He says: “To take you up on an invitation to explore prayer and God for the first time, a young person has to trust you and know it’s going to be a safe place. They have to know that accepting an invitation is worth the risk.”
Chris’ care and patience eventually led to the student attending the prayer group and nearly two years after she first appeared at the door of the lunchtime Christian union, she was baptised.
