Hop Churches benefice
I’m Linde Melhuish: I live near Ledbury, have been a Reader in the Hop Churches Benefice and have been training for the priesthood at St Mellitus College, London. It’s now many years since I came to faith at university, when a friend of mine lodged with a vicar who, unknown to me at the time, had a quiet but extraordinary healing and deliverance ministry. John and his wife were delightful, amusing and down-to-earth people, who had returned to England from India, to minister in a small village not far from Cambridge.
When an acquaintance had a very serious mo
torbike crash and was not expected to live, or at the very least, would be in a vegetative state, I mentioned this to John, asking if he would pray. He commented that he was having a service of healing that evening and why didn’t I come along? Had I heard of healing by proxy, he gently asked me and went on to explain. So that’s what I did, tentatively going up to the altar rails and kneeling, whilst he laid hands upon my head and prayed quietly. The nearest I can come to explaining what happened next is to compare it to a sense of electricity absolutely flooding through me, yet somehow, it was in a loving way. I remember thinking, ‘If this is the power of God, who am I to doubt it?’ Within the next two weeks, the person he had prayed for made a full recovery – and I started my faith journey.
In my early 30s, I became a Reader in Gloucester Diocese – initially, I had been dubious about this when I felt God initially nudging me to explore this calling. Within one week, three different, totally unconnected people just happened to mention, had I thought of exploring being a Reader? So I sighed and began the process of putting myself forward for selection for training, supported by my rather gleeful vicar. And the rest, as they say, is history, serving in rural Gloucestershire and then Herefordshire. My career is in education and so many times, God has enabled me to bridge the gap between the sacred and the secular, as well as serving in my Benefice of 8 eight rural churches.
Just as when I was called to be a Reader, over time, a significant number of people, including my incumbent, remarked, ‘Why don’t you become a priest?’ For various reasons, it wasn’t the right time, yet that call quietly nagged away and when I did explore it with support from my Rector, a previous bishop felt I was too old to begin training! So by that time, disheartened, I had given up all thoughts of ordination completely when my incumbent declared she felt God really was calling me and that we should have one last try, as we had a new bishop who might see things differently.
So – never doubt our God of surprises! This is when I learned, via our DDVO, of the brand new Caleb Stream at St Mellitus - specifically designed for those of more mature years with significant experience in serving their churches and with professional leadership experience. What a blessing it has been and all I can say is that nothing is wasted in God’s economy and the way it has all come together has been wonderfully enriching. As one of the first Calebs, I take heart that Caleb was one of those who was over 80 when he reached the Promised Land & was hale & hearty at 85 - hopefully, I’ve many years to go to reach that milestone!
