More New Staff Joining Us!

Our Ordinand, Sarah Down, who has just started with us will be familiar to many. It is great to have her with us! Here’s a short message from her:

Hi, I'm Sarah Down. I'm really excited to be able to share the exciting changes that have been happening in our family. In August I gave up my role as an Assistant Head Teacher to begin my training for ordination for the Church of England. Over the next 2 years I will be studying at Trinity College Bristol (I'll be away in Bristol for 6 weeks over the academic year) and completing my placement here at St John's. Many of you will already know me as we have been part of the St John's family for 13 years, but for those of you who don't here's a little bit about me. I'm married to Mike and we have 2 awesome girls called Maddie (13) and Nancy (6). I really enjoy chatting to people, making and eating cake, playing netball (and winning!) and having dinner with friends. We love having adventures as a family and having fun together. During my placement at St John's, I will be focussing on Alpha and Midweek as well as taking on more responsibilities in the services on Sundays. I will usually be around church on Monday and Tuesday afternoons, Thursdays and Sundays.

We are very excited that our New Curate, Jo Jennings, is set to join us next summer! This is what she writes:

Hi Everyone,

I am so please and excited to be joining you at St John’s for my Curacy next June. This is certainly an exciting time for my family and I!

I am married to Rob, and we have two children – Grace who is 14 and Thomas who is 10 years old. Grace attends Leasowes high school and Thomas is in his final year at Quinton Church Primary School. We hope that he will join his sister at Leasowes next September.

We are all Birmingham born and bred, Rob and I have lived in the Quinton/Halesowen area all of our lives, so we have deep roots within this city. Before I started my training, I worked at the Blue Coat School just down the road from St John’s where I started as a matron in one of the girls boarding houses and was then recruited to take on the position of school librarian. I very much enjoyed my time at Blue Coat and enjoyed working in the suburb of Harborne. I am delighted that I will get to work and serve within this lovely parish once again.

My sending Church is Christ Church Quinton where I have worshipped for many years. I am currently on the leadership team there as I complete my practical training. I am training out of Trinity College, Bristol on their Dispersed Learning pathway. Being a dispersed learner means that I only attend college in person for six weeks over the academic year. The rest of my time is spent studying at home and in practical ministry at Christ Church.

In my spare time I enjoy cycling and walking with the family, watching movies, reading, cross stitching and having friends and family over for meals and fellowship.

My vocations journey has been one of ups, downs and bumps in the road. God really took me by surprise when he placed me on this path, but I can honestly say that God knew what he was doing when he called me into ordained ministry.

I am really looking forward to meeting everyone and sharing in ministry with you all next year!!

Jo Jennings