Vicky Davies

As a student in the late 1990s I was part of a Methodist Church with an active student group of around twenty. Twice a year, the students were let loose on other congregations in the circuit to take a service, so we all had a go at doing at least one element of leading worship, even if it was just reading a Bible passage and introducing the next hymn. Several other students and young people were either training to be local preachers or had already been accredited. So I simply found myself assuming that one day I would become a preacher. And then I realised - if one day, why not now?

I mentioned it to my minister who was the superintendent and he seemed happy enough to give me a note to preach. I was assigned an excellent mentor and later another minister in the circuit as my tutor and off I went.

Alongside the formal feedback I received as part of my training, it was and is the comments from my congregations which were and are most affirming. On many occasions at least one person will come up to me at the end of the service and it will be clear that they have been really touched in some way. And today it feels like they are at the heart of my call to preach.

There are times when it feels like I am filled more with doubts than with faith and I wonder whether it is really still appropriate for me to continue preaching, but the words, images and music I share still seem to resonate deeply with others and enable them to see, learn or experience something of God. Once I stop receiving these comments I will know that my time is up and I shall retire from preaching. But for the time being I keep going.

So perhaps you don't always need someone else to suggest you become a preacher to start this journey. Perhaps sometimes you simply need to set out and see what people's responses are. If you are enabling them to encounter God then you're probably doing the right thing.