Revd Jane Addenbrooke is to be Priested this coming Saturday, 15 June at Chester Cathedral. Her journey hasn't been smooth. In her own words, she explains, how, despite her health issues, God has given her the strength she needed to fulfil her calling to ordination.
Jane first realised that God was calling her to follow the path of becoming Ordained in 2017 when she was watching a curate ( Revd Robin Pye) at St Peter’s Hale, where her husband was a vicar, take communion for the first time. "I just burst into tears. It was so beautiful", she remembers. Around the same time that she felt the call from God, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a neurological condition that can affect the brain and spinal cord, vision, arm or leg movement, and balance. This meant that training took longer than anticipated and it was a struggle for her to continue training as a curate.
Jane was advised by her MS nurse to establish a daily rhythm. "That sounded like prayer to me." And so she establish a prayer routine... prayer in the morning, prayer at lunch, and prayer to finish the day, finding solace and strength in her faith.
Although Jane does know what's going to happen, "Some days are not good", she takes great comfort in knowing that "God that can do all things."
After Jane has been ordained priest she will be serving God at Birkenhead Priory and St James with St Bede, Birkenhead.
Our prayers are with Jane and the others to be priested on 15 June.
If you think God is calling you in some way to follow a vocation within the Church, please contact the Ministry department via email at ministry@chester.anglican.org