Jan van der Lely writes

Gloucestershire has been my home now for 30 years. I taught Religious Studies in various schools in Cheltenham and Gloucester, and I sang in the Three Choirs Festival for some time, so I feel that I belong. But I grew up in London, and then studied Theology in Sheffield and Durham. Home for the last 12 years has been Newent, although for 6 of those years I was working in Switzerland as lay chaplain to an international boarding school, so I was only home in the holidays. My Dutch surname comes from my husband Graham, who is half Dutch, half English, but who has lived in Gloucestershire all his life. Graham runs a horticultural business near Newent and is chairman of governors at Hartpury College.
My two sons, Will and Tim, are 25 and 22; Will works in Brighton doing incomprehensible things with computers, and Tim studies at Oxford doing equally incomprehensible things with Classics.
My faith journey started as a youngster singing in the church choir and getting confirmed there. As an undergraduate I was a very active member of the Christian Union, but later I moved into a more catholic and liberal tradition and today this is where I feel most at home. If I were to draw my faith journey as a river, it would not follow a very straight course – there would be a lot of meanders, and I am not sure anyone could be more surprised than me to have received a vocation to ordained ministry. However since I started responding to this call, the course of events has given unmistakable confirmation, and despite the wrench of leaving my friends and job in Switzerland, this past year in training at Ripon College, Cuddesdon has been most enriching and rewarding. I have been training full time, although going home at weekends and doing my Sunday placement in and around Newent. This time has gone so fast, and now I am very much looking forward to ordination and to arriving in Cirencester to serve my title with you. It is such an exciting prospect to be part of everything that is happening at this time of growth in the parish. It is also quite daunting to be about to begin ordained ministry, and to embark on the next stage of a demanding learning experience, so please pray for me, Janet and Penny as we prepare for Petertide.
Jan van der Lely

Janet Williams writes

Born into an unchurched south London family, I came to faith as a child in response to the beauty, joy and love I found in the local church and among its congregation. My faith journey has always been about laying hold of Christ’s promise of life in abundance, and increasingly being drawn into the contemplative and mystical elements of our tradition, and into more direct experience of the divine.  I am now a ‘Companion on the Way’ of Contemplative Fire, a ‘Fresh Expression of Church’ based in Oxford Diocese. 

After a degree in Classics, and a Master’s degree in early theology, my first career was as a merchant banker, specialising in the money markets.  While working in Japan I changed stream to teach philosophy, history and religion, and began a serious study of Buddhism which led eventually back to England and PhD research on the philosophy and language of ancient Christian and Japanese Buddhist texts.  I have taught in a range of Japanese and UK universities and colleges, and am currently at Cirencester College where I teach A-level Religious Studies and Philosophy.

During the course of my curacy at Cirencester Parish, my primary role will still be my job with the College. But I have so much to learn from the time I can spend with the parish! - about the living-out of the theology I know in theory, about pastoral needs and how we as a community can work to bring abundant life to others both in and outside the worshipping congregation. I especially need to know how to be a minister alongside people who have a different perspective on faith from my own. I hope to be able to share the joy of a contemplative practice, and my understanding of the ways in which study of the biblical and theological traditions can enrich our practice of discipleship. Most of all, I intend to enjoy following Jesus’ practice of eating and drinking, walking and talking with friends and members of his family.

Penny Light writes

I am a Londoner, moving to Gloucestershire in 2005. Home was between Highgate Cemetery and Hampstead Heath, on which, in my childhood, I played with my brother, William. My husband, John, was born in Gloucestershire (Sheepscombe) and is Chairman of the County Cricket Club.
I worked as a teacher, first in Further Education, then in holding a variety of management posts in 11-18 comprehensive schools in Bermondsey, Hackney, Harringay and Barnet.

Worship was at churches within the South Croydon Deanery and it meant all the usual Anglican activities - PCC, school governors, helping at the many functions etc. (One of my first memories is helping my mother with a stall for the fete).

Nine years ago I enrolled at Birkbeck College where I obtained a Diploma in Theology. This was not the start of my journey but was a big step in it. Simultaneously my Parish Priest and I thought the next step would be serving as a Reader. This I did in St Anne's, Highgate, a small parish in North London. I was vice-chair of Churches Together in Highgate. There was now a momentum pulling me along. I was happy in God's service and felt called to ordination.

On my moving to Cirencester, the PCC supported my application and I accepted a cancellation on an Ordinands' Selection Panel. In August 2006 I learned I was accepted and started at the West of England Ministerial Training Course (Cheltenham) next month. Training has enabled me to enjoy placements at Rendcomb College (so different from Hackney), Harnhill Healing Centre and Cheltenham hospital. Learning of the different styles of worship within the Anglican church has shown me the breadth and strength of our church.

Serving in the Parish where I was so warmly welcomed is something I am looking forward to. I now know all three churches and how much they offer for the Parish as a whole. It is an exciting time for the church in Cirencester and for me.