Will I be able to cope with studying?

As someone who usually sits (when given the opportunity!) on one side of the desk, to begin a new phase of life on the other side (as student) has been a refreshing change, but like any movement from what is comfortable to what is less so, there are challenges to be faced. In coming towards the last hurdles of NOC, I am reminded of T.S.Eliot’s lines from ‘The Four Quartets’. Eliot has a sense of a person being on a journey, returning to a place where they have been before, yet coming to know the place ‘for the first time’. The journey through NOC has often caused me to feel disorientated in my thinking and feeling — challenging, uncomfortable but necessary for growth as a person. In a paradoxical kind of way, I ‘now know the place’ where I started (that is me and my calling to ministry) in a more meaningful way. The companions on the journey have been terrific: NOC is a company of pilgrims who share the journey of training with its ups and downs, sunshines and storms, laughter and pain. The destination is reached with them, because of them and sometimes in spite of them — some paths have to be walked alone.

I have to admit to finding the going difficult at times. I came to NOC from a low educational background, having left school at fifteen with no academic achievements. I had to go back to night school to take four GCSEs, the minimum educational requirement for candidating for ministry in the Methodist Church. I’d previously done some study for my Local Preacher’s qualification and had passed promotion examinations within my employment as a Fire Officer with Greater Manchester Fire Brigade. To find myself among people with academic capability was daunting. However, the sense of community and the pervading atmosphere of love I’ve found among my fellow students has made the process not just bearable but a wonderful and fulfilling experience. I feel this style of learning helps us all as we are challenged in our thinking and have our horizons stretched. All this can only bode well for the future ministry of the Church.