People often struggle to find the words to describe their calling. It can be a feeling, a physical sensation, a voice in a corner of their mind telling them where they should go. It can change as you explore it, changing as God calls you down new and different paths. In the lead up to Vocations Sunday (17 April), Catherine Copp, Secretary to the Diocesan Advisory Committee, reflects on what called her to work at Diocesan House.
It was Sunday 25th April 2010. I was preparing to leave my legal practice in York and unsure of exactly what to do next with my life, when something my mother felt prompted to say reminded me I had once stated that, time and money permitting, I would love to study theology. Here was my chance. But should I take it? I looked up theology degrees on the internet and found that York St John University was just starting a specialist Christian Theology degree, and the modules were exactly what I was interested in. Unconvinced, I prayed - "God, if this is what I am meant to do, please give me some sort of sign. And if Mum's prompting me was really you at work, then I'm sorry for being so slow".
Hand poised over the mouse to start internet shopping, something made me turn to the Church of England website instead, and the first thing which caught my eye was a tab for Vocations Sunday. I'd never heard of it but, my interest piqued, I clicked on the tab to read "We are all called no matter what our occupations may be". And the date of Vocations Sunday in 2010? Sunday 25th April. So I left law, read Christian Theology, and came to work for the Diocese of York. Call answered.