06.09.2018
Graham Jones – ‘I Had to Follow God’s Prompting’ Towards Ordination
Graham Jones will be ordained a Deacon on Sunday September 23 2018 in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin. The Archbishop of Dublin will preside and all are welcome to attend. Graham will serve his Deacon Intern year in the parish of Kilternan, Dublin. Here he writes of his background and the road that has taken him to ordination.
I am married to Louise, and we have three daughters, Rebecca (13), Amelia (10) and Romy (8). Louise and I will celebrate our fifteenth wedding anniversary in September! I qualified as a lawyer in 2003 and was in practice until 2011. During my time training to be a lawyer and practicing, I volunteered in two youth ministries run by our home church, St Catherine’s (Thomas St). It was from this experience that I saw up close, the effects of social and educational disadvantage in our society. This spurred me on to leave law in 2011 and help establish Solas Project, a community development organisation based in the inner city.
Towards the end of my time with Solas Project I had a growing sense that God was calling me into leadership within His church. When I explored this further, through prayer and conversations with Louise and trusted friends, I knew that we had to follow God’s prompting. This was very exciting but also very challenging, not just because of the uncertainty, but also because of how much I loved what I was doing with Solas Project.
However I have really enjoyed my training so far and have been very engaged by the content of the various academic modules, together with the experience of each placement. I am also very thankful that I have had an opportunity to deeply consider and wrestle with matters of theology and ministry. Through the various aspects of my training, I have been most struck by how everything points to God’s desire to redeem all of creation unto Himself, and how all of us are called to join in with God and play our part.
I am really looking forward to starting my Deacon year in Kilternan, and helping where I can. It is a very exciting time for the parish with the completion of the Community Centre and so a real privilege to serve at this time and see how God moves through this resource in this next season.