For Jenny Stromberg, the calling to ordination did not arrive in one dramatic moment. It moved through her life slowly, returning again and again, until eventually it became impossible for her to ignore.
Jenny’s journey of faith began when she was just seven years old and had just moved house with her family within Hertfordshire when her older sister asked to go to church. For a while, church became part of the rhythm of Jenny’s childhood. Then at 14 she wanted to be confirmed but was told she was too young. “I rebelled a bit and decided I was far too busy with homework to have time for that church.”
Years later, while studying at the Italia Conti theatre school in London, she found herself drawn back to prayer without fully understanding why. St Paul’s Cathedral was only a short walk away from the school and in the middle of busy days filled with energic classes, Jenny says she would slip inside for time of quiet contemplation. “There was something about sitting in that space that calmed and refreshed me.”
After college Jenny worked as a dancer and joined an Italian touring circus. Later she worked in Japan, but says, her questions of faith always continued. “I was hungry for conversations about faith.”
Marriage led her back into church life almost by accident. She became a Cub Scout leader at her husband’s local parish, attending church parades initially once a month. Then she was offered work as a parish administrator and children’s worker. “That’s where my faith flourished.” Still ordination seemed to be something other people were called to do. “I thought ministry belonged to other people. People with certainty. People who appeared holier than me.”
Then when she moved with her family to Somerset, to a tiny village within a seven-church benefice, she met the Rector, Kirsty Wells, who kept asking gentle but persistent questions about vocation. Again, the answer was ‘no’. Until one evening, something shifted. “I opened my mouth to say no and instead I heard myself say yes. It felt less like making a decision and more like finally stopping running.”
What surprised her most was not fear, but peace, “For the first time in years, everything inside me went quiet. I think ministry is about standing with people in the moments when there are no proper words left. God has been more patient with me than I ever deserved.”
Alongside her raising her family of two girls, for a number of years Jenny and her husband fostered older teenagers through the Stepping Stones scheme, providing a link between living with foster families and independence. Jenny currently works at the local secondary school invigilating exams. Jenny will serve her curacy in The Link Benefice (and the Benefice of Westonzoyland with Chedzoy).