Faith

Tom Holbird is now in his second term at Ridley Hall Theological College in Cambridge. He's agreed to let us look over his shoulder as he progresses through his training.

Diary of a Rookie Rev - Part 7

The term is nearly finished, but not before a placement in the community. Tom heads down to Romsey Mill Youth Centre to talk to trainee vicar Dave who's been helping young people to produce and record music.

Diary of a Rookie Rev - Part 6

All the trainee vicars at Ridley Hall have partners and families... the 'other side of life' as Tom calls it. After making the decision to train as a vicar, many of the families have to make big changes, including moving to Cambridge for three years. Tom's wife Katy talks about what it's been like and her new role as a 'vicar's wife'.

Diary of a Rookie Rev - Part 5

Exams are over and the Ridley Hall students now have time to chill out. Tom finds out more about singing in the gospel choir - which is a great way to relax and let your hair down after the pressures of exams:

"There's fantastic energy when you hear the choir sing, and people felt really alive. I met up with Mark, who runs the choir, and some of the singers to find out what they love about gospel music and how worshipping as you sing makes a real impact on the sound..."

Diary of a Rookie Rev - Part 4

The end of the year culminates with exam week! Tom asks fellow students how they're feeling, and speaks to lecturer Paul Weston about the purpose of exams and what he enjoys about teaching:

"It's great to get a reminder from Paul about the bigger picture and why we have to sit these exams, but I'm certainly looking forward to walking out of my last exam tomorrow lunchtime..."

Diary of a Rookie Rev - Part 3

What does training as a vicar actually involve? Follow Tom as he tells us about a day in the life of a trainee vicar...

Vicar in training...

"It's 8.18am and I've just arrived at Ridley College and I'm on my way to the chapel. We have morning prayer each day, and unfortunately because I'm running late I'll have to sit up in the balcony..."

"Next is Greek, we have to learn the language of the original text of the bible, and I'm not much of a language person, but one of the ways we're taught is to sing Greek songs..."

Diary of a Rookie Rev - Part 2

It's exam term, and everyone's burrowed away in the library revising. But more important than exams is the annual Ridley croquet tournament...

"It's after lunch, and we're here on the Ridley lawn which, in the summer, gets transformed into a croquet lawn. There's a lot of competitive people here, and it's not going well for me and my croquet partner Sue..."

Diary of a Rookie Rev - Part 1

The pressure's on as Tom prepares to deliver his very first sermon:

"Whenever I meet someone and we start to go through all those obligatory questions, I'm always thinking in the back of my head - 'ok, it's not long now till they ask me what I do'.

"Now I've found that telling people you're training to be a vicar usually provokes one of two reactions: for some this is really interesting and intriguing - if a little odd, much like someone training to be a circus clown. For others it is just totally obscure - why would anyone want to go and do that? You might as well have told them that you have a great passion and obsession for motorway service stations.

"But actually I'm one of hundreds of people training to be vicars up and down the country and there really is a complete diversity of people. At Ridley Hall we have accountants, teachers, scientists, doctors, nurses, people who used to run their own businesses, a guy who was in the Royal Marines, a guy who worked in a nightclub, and I share a study room with Dave, who used to be a lawyer in London.

It's nothing like this...

"It's a big day for me today as I'm preaching my first sermon at the church which I'm placed at - Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge. I'm preaching at the evening service where there tends to be a lot of students and younger people so the real challenge is to make the sermon as engaging as possible.

"I guess for a lot of people Church of England sermons have a pretty bad reputation. I am feeling a little nervous, speaking in front of all those people but overall I'm really excited because I love the passage I'm preaching from. I'm prepared, I've prayed a lot and I'm basically ready to go!

"Over the next few months I'll be telling you about my training, giving you some insights and hopefully breaking some of the stereotypes to show that we're not all like Ned Flanders or Father Ted!"

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