As some of you will know, I’m now a OneSpirit Interfaith Minister and Celebrant. “What’s that mean?”, you say.
Now is your chance to find out more, as I’m taking part (with a bunch of my lovely colleagues) in a social media #MonthOfMinistry. (Search using that hashtag to find what other people are saying.) The idea is that, every day in February, we write a post in response to a prompt/question of the day – that may be quite a challenge, but fortunately this is the shortest month! Some people will be doing this on Twitter, Instagram, whatever, but I’ll just stick to Facebook for now (and here on the website).
Imbolc, 1st of February, a good time for new beginnings, so here we go:
Day 1: This is me
That’s challenging to start with: I feel very shy talking about this ministry business. Maybe if you know me first in another context you’ll find it weird/pointless/politically incorrect? (Please do share your thoughts and responses in the comments…)
But the very first exercise we did on our ministry training was called “I am here to be seen”, and that really stuck with me – there’s something important about standing up and saying, “this is who I am, this is what’s important to me”. And, since something about relationship is central to what this is all about: “and tell me who you are?”
I live near the beach in Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland with my partner Jane and lovely housemates Olga and Inessa. My son Callum is grown up now and mostly living elsewhere. As well as being a minister, I run my own website business https://formandfunction.coop. I’ve always been very politically engaged, campaigning for peace and environmental causes. Singing in a political choir is part of that work. I love wild places, walking in the mountains and swimming in lochs, rivers and sea. Read on for much more over the next few weeks!
#WeAreROSIM #InterfaithMinister #InterfaithCelebrant #ManyPathsOneSpririt
