Earlier in June, the Revd Ali Simpson-Smith was licensed as Team Vicar in the Benefice of Oadby Great Glen during worship of welcome and commitment to shared ministry.
The celebratory service took place at St Peter’s Church in Oadby and was led by the Rt Revd Saju Multhalaly, Bishop of Loughborough, alongside the Venerable Richard Trethewey, Archdeacon of Leicester, and Revd Steve Bailey, Assistant Archdeacon and Rector in the Benefice.
Revd Ali has joined the team to lead pioneering across the Benefice and Minster Community, when formed.
We spoke to Revd Ali about her journey to this point, and her joy in taking on the role.
Tell us about the licensing and service...
The service felt really special, to have such support from friends, both new and old, and family coming together to support me as I took this next step on the journey God has called me to.
I had family and some of my oldest friends join me online from Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland, Pembrokeshire, the West Midland, Stockport, and as far as Australia!
As usual, Bishop Saju was brilliant at picking up on bits of my story during an interview and reflecting that back onto the community at St Peters and the wider churches of the Oadby, Great Glen Benefice.
I felt very welcomed by all, and had the sense that I have arrived at my new Church home. As a family we were warmly welcomed by everyone. I loved that I got to receive the gifts for ministry standing amongst my new team. It feels like such a blessing to be able to work with some wonderful people in my new roles.
What has been your route to this role, in the diocese, through ordination and curacy?
I have been ministering in the Diocese since 2009, firstly as a Pioneer Youth Worker, then in 2018 I began my ordained training as a Pioneer Priest through the Church Mission Society, and Ripon College Cuddesdon.
I had the joy of being on placement with St John the Baptist church in Clarendon Park for both my ordinand training and the first part of my curacy where I had established and grew three new communities, and developed a passion for pioneering new worshipping communities and helping them to grow to maturity.
For the last two years of my curacy, I was rooted in the City Deanery and had the joy of supporting and walking alongside churches in different contexts in interregnum, delivering training sessions for churches, helping them to explore Ministry in their Contexts, Pioneering and Planting new Worshipping Communities, and Facilitating some of the Minster Community Groups.
I really enjoy investing in new leaders and walking alongside a community, so when the role of Pioneer Team Vicar came up for the Oadby Great Glen Benefice, being rooted with the wonderful community at St Peter's Church, I knew this was where God was leading me, and us as a family, too!
How does this role reflect your calling?
I love to explore new possibilities of what God is doing beyond our church walls, and equally love being rooted in a community, where I can both love and grow alongside them, as they us.
The newly shaped Pioneer Team Vicar role that I have just begun marries these two aspects of my calling perfectly, and I am excited to see what God is going to do here at St Peter's, and in the Oadby Great Glen Benefice.
A few weeks into the new role and I have already been seeing exciting prospects of new communities and Pioneer projects springing up, and speaking with people who feel the call of God on their lives and so are exploring lay opportunities in our churches with them.
What are your hopes for ministry in the Benefice and the wider community?
My hopes are that as we continue to grow together as the people of God in this place, we see people come to know and respond to Jesus, across various contexts and worshipping communities.
That we become a mixed eco-system of people and places that serve God and each other. That as we grow deeper in our discipleship, we are equipped to reach out into the wider communities and schools. That each of our churches across the Benefice becomes a thriving, Christ-centred community where all generations worship, grow, and serve together - championing the marginalised, equipping the young, and honouring the wisdom of the old as we continue to do life together.
Speaking about Revd Ali’s appointment, the Ven. Richard Trethewey said: “It was a great joy and delight to see people at the service who had accompanied Ali on her journey of discernment to this point and benefited from her ministry, joining together to start a new phase of that ministry.
“There’s great confidence that Ali’s gifts and experience are going to bring something new to the whole Benefice in Oadby Great Glen, and St Peter’s in particular.”