Hi! I’m Beth, and I am Vicar of St Andrews’ Romford, in the Diocese of Chelmsford.
I grew up with four siblings and my parents in and around London and Essex. My dad was a vicar, so I grew up in church, did Sunday school, sang in choirs, the whole thing. However, this didn’t stop me leaving at sixteen, partly due to being a stroppy teenager, and partly due to genuine disillusionment with the sexism, homophobia and racism I had witnessed and read about in the Church.
I went away and studied English at university, worked for charities, worked as a bartender, a waitress and in retail.
The absolute last thing I would have ever planned for myself was to be a vicar, but now that I’m here I love it, even on the hard days!
What I’ve never forgotten from discernment and training however, was feeling quite lonely with it, and not feeling like I fitted the mould.
Being female, being plus sized, being younger, being vocal about injustice, being LGBT and being of English and Indian heritage means that I have to look that much harder for a role model, and look that much harder to see myself behind an altar and at the front of a church.
But I genuinely believe God calls and equips leaders as diverse as creation itself, and that’s why I am really excited to offer my support as a mentor.
My interests include liberation and queer theologies, finding the perfect red lipstick, my dog Lucky, and art.
If any of this resonates with you, I’m happy to offer face to face or video call mentoring at a mutually convenient time. Due to my less-than-stellar language aptitude, I am only able to offer mentoring in English. I would describe myself as a Liberal Inclusive Catholic but happy to mentor regardless of church background!