Well, what a year it’s been!
This summer I managed to get married, get ordained, and move house, all in the space of a month, and I’ve now started my first post as a curate at St John’s Church, Goole.
Rewinding a bit, it was the summer of 2020 and I was just moving to Wycliffe Hall in Oxford to start my ministerial training in the Church of England, involving studying for a Theology degree at the university at the same time.
This happened to be in the midst of the pandemic, and my first year at the college was spent attending remote classes and being confined to the halls for the majority of the time.
Finally by the summer at the end of first year, the restrictions had lifted and I was able to join in with studies in the more traditional manner.
However this year also brought along with it my dissertation which I was working on throughout the year, and my final exams which all took place in June 2022.
Cue this last year, I’d finished my degree and graduated with a respectable 2:1 and was curacy hunting across the country.
In November I also had the joy of getting engaged to my girlfriend of a year at the time, Hannah Long – a beautiful, God devoted woman involved in the pastoral and hospitable care of international students living at ‘Commonwealth House’, set up by St Aldates Church which we were both part of.
After an unfortunate circumstance involving my potential curacy falling through, it wasn’t until May 2023 that I was able to confirm by the grace of God that I had been offered the position as Curate at St John the Evangelist Church in the Parish of Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire, which both Hannah and I were overjoyed about.
Though much further North than either of us had planned, or ever lived, we knew God was calling us up here for this season, and what a wonderful journey it’s been so far!
On the 10th June 2023, Hannah and I celebrated our wedding, getting married at St Aldates Church surrounded by many friends and family from all over, and what a joyous celebration it was.
The joining of two incredible families – the Grists of Hampshire, England, and the Longs of Terryscollop, Ireland – truly a wonderful occasion for all.
Following a honeymoon in Crete, we moved into our new house, a vicarage in Swinefleet, just outside of the parish, blessed with several bedrooms and a beautiful large garden which has graced us with some lovely afternoons sitting outside admiring the views, as well as a plentiful harvest of fruit from the garden.
In the beginning of July I was ordained as the Reverend Ben Grist at Sheffield Cathedral by Pete Wilcox – the Bishop of Sheffield.
The church community is so lovely and they have all been very welcoming to us as we settle into the area. We are seeing real growth in the church at the moment and have been encouraged by the reach the church is having in the community throughout Goole.
After three months or so now since moving in, we are feeling more at home here and have even had time this week to go away for a mini break in the Pennines.
God has been so gracious and caring in his provision over us this last year particularly and we thank him for all that he has done through us at this time.
I suspect updates on here may be changing in the future due to my change of circumstances, similarly with my YouTube channel, but that’s for another day.
With love
Ben Grist