Fiona Mayne is a pioneer ordinand who lives in Haywood Village, a new housing estate near Weston-super-Mare. “It’s been quite a journey since I became a Christian so much has happened.” Fiona, who is a mum to two grown up children, was a financial adviser for 20 years before she began her journey to ordination, but her journey, as she explains, hasn’t been a straightforward one.
“My transforming moment really has two parts. I used to do a martial arts class and I picked up a book at a sports class one day, that someone had left on the side. It was the story of someone’s faith journey. I remember reading it twice and crying both times but putting it on the shelf and forgetting about it. But it had sown the seed.
“Later when I became a single mum to two children, my sister recommended a holiday at a Christian hotel as she felt I would be safe in that environment. I rang the hotel but told them firmly, I wasn’t a Christian. I went on quite a few of these holidays because they were so nice to me, they didn’t want anything in return, they didn’t even talk to me about God. They were just very kind, I guess they just loved me into the Kingdom really. One year when I visited, I had a transforming moment over dinner, suddenly it just all fell into place and I said to everyone, ‘I believe in God.’ After that everything changed overnight.
“I became a Christian and I realised for all of my life, before I was 40, I hadn’t known anything about God. I didn’t believe it I just thought it was a nice fairy story you read by the fire. God wasn’t even on my radar at all. So, when I had that transforming moment in my life, I really wanted to share it with other people so that they had that opportunity.
I started doing the work here in Hayward Village because the Holy Spirit led me here, nobody told me to do it except God, I wasn’t on a programme or any sort of internship, I was just called to move here. It's been quite a journey since I became a Christian. I’m happy I found God, that’s why I like to share my journey with everyone.”
Fiona will serve her curacy in Hayward Village which is part of Locking Deanery.