By Terri Bacon.
Louise Tinniswood, aged 41, was a lecturer at a College of Further Education in Chesterfield for 13 years before she decided to leave to become a vicar.
“I initially thought about it when I was 13 years old during my confirmation classes” Louise explained. “But at that time women couldn’t get ordained and I wasn’t at all academic at school, so I didn’t see it as a reasonable option for someone like me.”
“I think the biggest thing that happened was that my marriage broke up.” she said. Her ex-husband would not have been fond of the idea, and the option to to give up work to become a full-time student simply would not have been there.
“It was an horrendous time but looking back had I still been married I wouldn’t have followed up the ordination route.”
The process you take to become a vicar is very selective and tough, which starts with you being recommended by a minister. There is then a long selection process, which involves working with another vicar as a mentor and then going through a series of interviews over three days, called a Bishop’s Advisory Panel.
To become an ordained minister in the Church of England there are a number of different routes you can take. If a person is under 32 when they start their training, they study for three years instead.
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