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Joe Roberts, 30, a former pub landlord, writes about how working behind a bar helped him to rediscover his vocation to ordained ministry. He will be ordained a deacon in Birmingham Cathedral on Sunday.

“I was brought up in a Church of England family and my mother was hugely involved in our church in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. I went to church but it was more out of duty than perhaps anything else. I unexpectedly experienced a radical change to my faith when I was 13 years old on a walk with friends when I stopped and sat down on a bench by a bridge waiting for them to catch up. I remember feeling the presence of God, it was a really profound feeling that God was watching over me and that he wanted me to serve him. This experience made me get more deeply involved with my faith, I went along to Alpha and joined a Bible studies group and became an altar server. After speaking to my parish priest, I thought it would be a good idea to study theology at university. At that stage I didn’t really have any idea of what a priest did but I thought this would help give me a greater grounding of my faith. Ironically, it was while I was at university that I put my faith to one side. I told myself that I was studying theology at a deeper level and I didn’t need to go to church.

“When I finished at university I felt a bit unsure about what I would do next. I knew at that stage that I was not ready to discern my calling for the priesthood in spite of being known as the ‘Reverend’  at university - even though I was not practising my faith or doing anything about it. I started an MPhil but it was a part-time course and I needed work. I got a job at The Wellington pub in the centre of Birmingham as a barman. Paying the rent and doing the course got too much of a struggle and I later stopped my studies. I took a job as cellar manager at the pub. It involved making sure that that the cellar was in check and that the beer was ready with around 15 different real ales at any one time. I thoroughly enjoyed the job and it suited my background. My mum and dad had been early members of CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale), and I have been chairman of the local branch and have helped organise the Birmingham beer festival.

“In some ways, working in the pub reflects the role of the minister, especially in the pastoral care and getting alongside people. People come to you with their issues and their problems and for advice. While of course it was a highly secular world, I never hid my faith. In a strange way, working in a pub helped me rediscover my vocation.

“It was at The Wellington that I met my future wife, Jaime, who was assistant manager – she would end up running it. She wanted to explore her faith and we both ended up going to Birmingham Cathedral. We would go to the 11am service as late night work on Saturdays made it harder to attend an earlier one. While there I spoke to the DDO (Diocesan Director of Ordinands) about my vocation but she said I was trying to run before I could walk. I had only just started going back to church and it was too early to talk about ordination. I moved from The Wellington to take up a job as a landlord at another pub but made the decision to leave because of the long hours.

“At that point, I was unemployed and we had nowhere to live. We went to a service at Birmingham Cathedral and one of the canons came over and said ‘we are looking for a verger, you could be the answer to our prayers, would you like to apply?’ I got the job as a verger and began working too at St Martin in the Bullring church as a parish administrator. I went back to see the DDO, as now seemed the right time and began the process of moving towards ordination, completing a two year MA course at Westcott House in Cambridge. I will be taking up a curacy at St. Leonard’s, Marston Green, Birmingham, after my ordination. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and rolling my sleeves up – to flourish in myself and my ministry, to learn and develop while contributing to the flourishing of the parish as a whole.”

 - Joe Roberts