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At
St Andrew’s we are fortunate to have two Readers, namely Melanie Seward and
Jim Thornton. Often Readers are referred to as lay readers, because they
are not ordained. Readers come from all walks of life; people who are
called by God, theologically trained and licensed by the Church to preach,
teach, lead worship and assist in the work of the priest. The Office of
Reader is one of the oldest ministries in the Church, but in its present
form in the Church of England dates from 1866. Since then, the growth in
Reader Ministry has been one of the great success stories in the Church of
England and there are now over 10,000 Readers throughout the country. Their
role differs from church to church. In some parts of the country they may
take services, including funerals, especially where the ordained clergy are
overstretched. At St Andrew’s, Melanie and Jim are an important part of the
ministry team and preach at the Parish Communion service about once
a month and lead other services on occasion.
Melanie started her
training before arriving in Hertford, having been prompted by a sermon she
heard at church at a time when she had been thinking about being able to
talk to people about her faith following the death of a neighbour. She was
encouraged to continue her progress towards
being admitted as a
Reader by Father Graham.
After five years of study and examination she was licensed about 10 years
ago.
Jim’s path to being a
Reader was much faster, having been given the opportunity when in Manchester
to complete a course in just three months when only 22 and was licensed in
January 1970, before going out to work in Africa.
Many will remember
Margaret and Jorj Kowszun, and their children Hannah and Nick, pictured
left, who were members of St Andrew’s before moving to Eastbourne. On the
29 September at Chichester Cathedral, Jorj was admitted as a Reader and
licensed within the Diocese of Chichester. Jim Thornton was a member of
Jorj’s Support Team during the three years of training and study that he
pursued to qualify.
 If
you may be interested in becoming a Reader, why not speak with Melanie or
Jim, or to Alan
or Bill. Readers have their own website,
www.readers.cofe.anglican.org
which contains information about what is involved in becoming a
Reader.
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