A group of rural churches in the Peasedown St John area are set to welcome a new trainee vicar, who is serving on placement with them for 4 weeks.
Revd Sam Thompson is currently a curate, a ‘vicar in training’, in nearby Frome and part of his extra-curricular activities are to spend time ‘on the ground’ with rural Anglican churches to see how they’re immersed in their local communities.
Sam said:
“I’m looking forward to working with Rev Matthew Street and the team in the St J’s Group. I’ve heard so many good things about what the church is doing in the community to reach out to others and support those in need.”
Originally from Basingstoke, Sam moved to the Bristol area at the age of 18 to undertake an engineering degree apprenticeship while working for Airbus. During this time, he settled in Portishead and joined a local church where he ‘felt the calling’ to enter the church ministry during the covid pandemic.
As the Church of England is facing a significant shortage of vicars, with clergy numbers dropping by approximately 38% over the last five years, at aged just 28, Sam is bucking the trend entering the priesthood at such a young age.
“Churches are wonderful places,” added Revd Sam, “being able to walk alongside and pray with people in their journey of Christian faith is such an immense privilege. In society today, more and more people are asking big questions and searching for meaning, and the church is in a special position to provide answers to those questions.”
When he’s not in training for church leadership, Sam enjoys spending time with family and friends, walking, gardening, and learning the piano!
Sam will be getting involved with various pastoral and community-based activities around the four churches in the St J’s Group over the next few weeks, from attending school assemblies to preaching in church, and from supporting the church’s children’s outreach work to volunteering at coffee mornings.
Leader at the St J’s Group, Revd Matthew Street, added:
“We’re looking forward to welcoming Sam in all our churches. His experiences in engineering, working with large groups of people and enthusiasm for the ‘great outdoors’ will be of huge value to us and the work we do across the community.”
For more details about the work of the St J’s Group, readers can visit their website, www.stjsgroup.church, which includes details of future events, the church’s work in the community, activities going on during the week and live recordings of Sunday sermons.
