Christian Ministry

Tina is a Team Vicar. She trained for ordination after her children had left home. Now in her late 50s she said she loves being in ministry to which she had long felt a sense of call. 

She described how her personal circumstances have changed in the last two years with the arrival of two grand children and her husband’s parents having to live apart as her mother-in-law had gone into residential care.

Tina was tearful as she described how painful she found it to see her mother-in-law with all her mobility difficulties and suffering from dementia. She was also tearful as she described her desire to see her grand children more regularly than she seemed to have time for.

In the Work-life balance consultation we explored the impact of the personal changes and Tina realised that, despite her work situation remaining stable and enjoyable, the time was ripe for making some adjustments.

‘I thought I should be able to cope with everything’ she said. ‘I was surprised when we discussed the idea of planning in a quarterly quiet day of retreat. I hadn’t thought I could take time for myself but I’m going to book these days in as part of resourcing myself for ministry.’

She was going to talk things over with her husband and her Team Rector with the idea of sustaining herself for ministry rather than apologising for not being as energetic and enthusiastic as she had been in the past.