Vocation and Faith

Family Life, Work Life and Church Life

In that order.

My life as a Catholic Permanent Deacon can sometimes confuse people. Perhaps there is an idea that clergy are somehow a little removed from ordinary life.

I'm not.

I'm a husband, a dad, a dog walker and, in my spare time, a maths teacher. I have a family, a job, bills, deadlines and all the usual joys, frustrations and chaos of everyday life. I'm not a great academic and I certainly don't claim to be holier than the average person sitting in a church pew.

I am, though, a man of faith.

I believe in God and in the teachings of the Catholic Church. My faith has led me to make a particular commitment: to use whatever skills, talents and time I have in the service of the Church, of others and especially of those who need help.

For me, becoming a Permanent Deacon was a natural response to that.

I've always found it difficult to complain about falling clergy numbers, a lack of volunteers or the needs of a community without first asking myself a fairly uncomfortable question:

“Could I be part of the solution?”

That question has got me into quite a lot of things over the years.

It has also led to some interesting conversations at work. Teaching maths in a High School means spending my days surrounded by teenagers, some of whom have never knowingly met a minister of religion before — and certainly never expected to be taught algebra by one.

Being a deacon doesn't remove me from ordinary life. Quite the opposite. My family life, my work as a teacher and my ministry in the Church constantly overlap.

This website is really about life where those three things meet.

I will keep the Blog page updated and invite you to read these.