‘I started to pray more and began to see the renewal of my faith transform my outlook and the way I perceived the world around me.’
As a teenager Edward Day began to think more deeply about his faith. He started reading the Scriptures and responded to a strong urge to explore local churches. Though he was baptised in Bristol as an infant and had occasionally gone to church with his great grandmother, it was the exploration of his faith in his teens that made Edward realise that he wanted to make his faith his own. ‘I wanted to own it, to be proud of it, and to take responsibility for myself. I felt some form of shift. I had moved on from just knowing about God as I had done before and began to feel like I knew God.’
At University in Canterbury Edward said he felt, ‘almost as if my faith had exploded. I became involved with the university chaplaincy, with the Christian Union, and as a server at Canterbury Cathedral, a place very close to my heart. I began to attend Morning Prayer every day at my university chapel and Evensong at the cathedral. It was during my time at university that I began to take my sense of calling to ordained ministry much more seriously.’
After university Edward moved to Weston-super-Mare and worked in local government on a wide variety of regeneration projects. During the coronavirus pandemic he helped set up an emergency distribution centre to send food and supplies to vulnerable people across the county. Whilst he was working, Edward also studied part-time for a degree in canon law at the University of Cardiff.
The main thread throughout Edward’s busy life has been his faith and the sense that he was being called by God. He says it was the support of others that encouraged him to really hear God’s call. ‘I found myself surrounded by other encouraging, loving, affirming, and prayerful people who helped and enabled me to take the leap and begin the discernment process.’
Edward will serve his curacy in the Benefice of St Thomas, Wells with Horrington and also be licenced to the Benefice of Chewton Mendip with Ston Easton, Litton and Emborough. He says, ‘Although I don’t know what the future will hold – how the Church might evolve, and what shape my ministry might take – I find great comfort, joy, and privilege in the fact that I believe God has called me to live out my faith by loving and serving the needs of others in His Church.’