Anyone else find it difficult to write about themselves? I can hear my Mum telling me not to brag and my own inner critic asking “and who do you think would be interested in your story”? 

All our stories are special, are of value and can inspire others. This blog is all about stories, stories that emerge from sharing our life experiences about faith and work.

Work.

My own work story started in 1973 when I started work as a Cadet Nurse. I entered nursing as a 16yr old with one G.C.S.E. not the required four and miraculously qualified as a State Registered Nurse in 1978. During that period of my life another story started, that of my relationship with God as I became a Christian in 1974. From that moment I felt I was walking two separate paths, my work path and my faith path. I am not sure why that was, could it have been the emphasise on the gathered church on a Sunday,  the importance of church ministry, the supremacy of what I did in church or the inspiring but limiting preaching on ‘calling’ and ‘ministry’?,  I am not sure,  but I felt as though  I was two different people – the work me and the church me.

I loved my work, I specialised in Intensive Care and became a senior nurse in this specialty, leading and training many staff over the 17 years spent in this specialty. I then moved into senior leadership working at regional and national level. I loved what I did on the good days and the bad days. I felt had been given the skills, gifts and abilities to do this work, dare I say it by God.

I went on to gain an MBA in Leading Strategic Change, a LL.M in medical law and a number of leadership, management and teaching qualifications. I discovered I loved teaching in universities and other professional and academic settings. Was this a God calling or was it a distraction to draw me away from His plan for my life? A question I pondered many times and never really found the answer in a career spanning 38 years.

The Church.

My other life story existed in parallel within the church. I served wherever I could, responded to altar calls to follow God with my whole life many times and juggled church activities with the busyness of a demanding career. I have held a variety of leadership roles in Independent Pentecostal Church settings for over 35 years and still look back and see two paths, running concurrently but nevertheless separately through my life.

My Double Life.

I have retired from formal NHS work, but once a nurse always a nurse. I still get frequent text messages asking me to explain medicines, blood and scan results, and interesting photos of rashes or wounds not for the faint hearted. 

It is only now I have had the space to reflect on my inner feelings of having lived a ‘double life’. I have loved both my ‘secular’ work and my ‘sacred’ work, as a Pastor, doctoral researcher, business owner and consultant to the NHS. I continue to battle this thought that my ‘secular’ roles are less important than my ‘sacred’ roles. I have been challenged many times over the years to decide if I am called to be a ‘priest’ or a ‘king’, am I called to sacred priestly work or secular work?  It was always implied that the sacred calling was a higher calling and the things I did in my working week were good but not in any way equal to my church role.

Questions, Questions, Questions.

Could that be right? Do the things we all do on a Sunday or church activities in the week have greater value to God than the things we do as work i.e. paid or unpaid, the rest of the week? Where is God in our work, where do faith and work come together, what does the bible have to say on this? These questions have led me to my current studies as a doctoral researcher in practical theology as part of the Doctor of Ministry programme at York St. John University. Even the words ‘doctoral researcher’ make me feel like an imposter, who is this person who thinks she can enter into the world of academia, especially in theology, a subject she has never studied at university, and find answers to her questions?  

How do I combine my role as a pastor and a researcher? Will anyone be interested in the study? How will any of this help our church attendees in their faith journey and other pastors, teams and members of Independent Pentecostal Churches? It seems like I am finding more questions as  I listen and talk to other Christians, but such is my passion for people to know their faith and work are both significant, I am ready to invest the time and effort to hear and explore these things through my story and the stories of others. With the help of the Holy Spirit and insight from the Word of God, we can go on this journey together and create an environment where faith and work are valued, recognised and supported by the church.

That’s my story, now I want to encourage you to share your story with me as part of this research study. The study is all about storytelling, your stories have within them amazing insights and experiences of faith and work and I can’t wait to hear them.

Speak soon 

Jean