Ordination: Five Months Later

Five months have passed since I wrote about the meeting with my DDO and ADDO regarding my discernment process for ordination. It feels longer. So much of this journey has been shaped by waiting, discerning, and understanding how calling and institution meet in real life. Those early months were hard. I was still processing the February meeting and learning how to navigate a system that had not yet learned how to navigate me.

Things have slowly moved forward. The confusion around my mental health diagnosis was finally resolved after my ASD assessment and hopefully settles the worries of the Bishop, replacing a long‑standing misdiagnosis with clarity. That shift changed how my DDO understood my situation and allowed him to shape the next steps with accuracy rather than assumption. The plan he sent reflects this, recognising the autism diagnosis, the realities of degeneration, and the need for disability informed oversight.

Placement comes first. My home church sits at the northern edge of Canterbury Diocese but I live in the Rochester Diocese. Worshipping there means I’m on the process there, but travelling further south for a placement increases distance, time, and physical strain. My DDO suggested completing placement within Rochester rather than take those consequences.  

I was given three choices of churches. When we met in April, it was agreed that placements need to be physically accessible, travel accessible, have inclusive worship, and a leadership that understands Disability, including Disability Theology. The latter is really important. I would hate a placement that perpetuated ableist church narratives. 

All suggested placements fitted this criteria. This matters for disabled candidates to be respected, included, and understood. I have chosen a placement that’s a thirty minute walk from my home. 

This will begin in Autumn 2026. It’s very different in style, tradition, and ministry compared to my current context. I also need to understand how accessibility works in a church that looks inaccessible from the outside and through tradition but clearly isn’t. All of which is essential for me to flourish and grow in my calling and future role.

The next part of the plan focuses on the C4. My marriage reaches the required three years in April 2027. This was a problem for the bishop. I was told I couldn’t even start the paperwork until that date, which would delay the process for two years, but the new plan requests the C4 in Autumn 2026. This reflects the time that has already passed and the change in diagnosis. It also avoids unnecessary delay that impacts my health. The C4.3 concerns remain, but the plan acknowledges that my disability is not a barrier to vocation. It is part of my story, theology, and the way I minister. The Fearfully and Wonderfully Made report supports this. The plan now does too.

Stage 2 will follow once the C4 is received and approved. The aim is Spring 2027 and, I believe, will be a continuation of the Stage 1 panel and Carousel Conversations.

Training comes next. A one year bespoke pathway at College, starting in September 2027. From an academic perspective, I have already completed the necessary two year level 4 course. I then, without need, completed level 6 modules a year later. This pathway covers what remains incomplete for ordination. I love studding theology so it shouldn’t be a problem. This should lead me to be ordained in July 2028.

Curacy follows. SSOM (Self Sustaining Ordained Ministry) ministry at my home church with the new incumbent (We are currently in the recruitment process for one). While it’s still two years away, it’s no longer abstract, theoretical, or paused due to unnecessary or biased barriers. 

I still need to attend a Psychological Wellbeing Assessment later this year. Although I don’t have date confirmed, this explores resilience, emotional health, relationships, stress, the realities of ordained ministry, and areas specific to me. My DDO will write to the assessor beforehand so nothing comes as a surprise, which I appreciate. 

This was a problem for the bishop and process. According to my DDO, candidates with personality disorders are rarely accepted because they affect emotional regulation, relationship stability, and the pressure to lead without becoming overwhelmed. Ordained leadership relies on consistent boundaries, resilience, and clarity in conflict.

An ASD diagnosis changes that. Autism is not rooted in unstable emotional patterns or relational volatility. ASD brings communication differences, sensory needs, and processing styles, but without the concerning traits that raise safeguarding issues in leadership. Getting the correct diagnosis mattered. It removed an inaccurate barrier, clarified my fourteen-year stability, and allowed the process to see me as I actually am.

I don’t know how every part of this plan will unfold, but the direction of this journey now has shape. I’m still learning how to shine a light, not fight, trust the institution behind the process, and navigate a system that is slowly changing and learning how to navigate disability.

Five months later, the journey continues. Not paused, silenced or  forgotten. I’m still moving toward the vocation God placed in me all those years ago.