Anna Drew is a Communications professional who will be continuing her day job alongside taking up her ministry in parish.
Having spent the past 18 years working in Church PR and communications, Anna admits that you could say her career has been pretty niche.
“I began my working life in media relations for the Methodist Church in Britain and worked for them for ten years before moving to be Director of Communications a little closer to home in the Diocese of Canterbury.”
Most recently, she took up a similar role with the Diocese of Southwark, a role which involves advocacy on social justice issues, supporting parishes and schools as they respond to challenging issues and helping the Church more broadly communicate its message of love and hope for God’s world today.
When she is ordained in September, she will become a self-supporting minister, meaning she will continue in her day job, supporting herself during her training period in parish, known as a curacy.
She says that all the time she has been working for the Church, jobs which she’s loved and thrived in, she has been aware of a kind of ‘restlessness’, and a longing to do and be something else.
“From my teenage years, I have felt a strong sense of being called to ordained ministry, but it’s taken me literally decades to test and discern this call – and to have the courage to step into it.
“Now, at the age of forty, it seems finally to be becoming a reality – and I’m excited and terrified in equal measure!”
On the day she’s ordained, she’ll be wearing a cross which has a special significance:
“Our son found it in the bottom of a tub on a bric-a-brac stall at a church fair this summer. He brought it to me and said, “Look Mum, you should get it – because it’s imperfect, just like you.”
“In the end, the lady on the stall gave it to me for free because she had no idea where it had come from, and no one wanted it.
"It’s a beautiful reminder for me that God’s kingdom is a place where things and people that don’t fit the mould can find a home – where they can be welcomed and accepted and contribute. And I hope that principle will guide my ministry over the coming years.”
Anna will be ordained on September 30 and will spend her curacy in the Benefice of Gillingham, Holy Trinity.
Explore how God may be calling you. Visit www.rochester.anglican.org/everyday-faith/gods-plan-for-you/