Meet our interns: Caroline Mansley
My name is Caroline Mansley and I am married to Nigel, with two children – Jessica aged 25 and married to Ross, and Chris aged 22. I have been somewhat of a nomad most of my life (not least because my father was in the RAF) which is why I was born in Downpatrick. However, I spent most of my life in England, returning to Northern Ireland in 1997.
My home parish is St Columbanus, Ballyholme, where Nigel grew up. I met Nigel at Bristol University where I worked for the University Library and the BBC after a postgraduate secretarial diploma. I have since mainly worked in consultative sellng, in clothing and educational publishing.
My initial call to ordination, as I now see it, happened when my children were very young but I buried the experience. Calls to full–time ministry happened to other people, not to people like me who would dread reading in church all the previous week. In 2006 I felt I had to respond to the call as it had not gone away. I had been helping out and then running Alpha courses in our parish and had long been involved with house groups.
The training process is referred to as one of formation and with good reason. Whenever I have questioned my abilities, I find I cannot get away from having to continue in faith and trust in God and he has certainly been faithful to me as he equips me for full–time ministry. I have come to trust that he has called me as I am, with my experiences, good and bad, and weaknesses as well as strengths.
I feel that I have only just begun to learn and I look forward with excitement to serving God and his people as Deacon in my internship next year in Willowfield Parish.