I’m Ruth Edmonds a second year (out of 3) ordinand studying at the Queens’ Foundation in Birmingham. I come from Bristol diocese. I mentor younger people exploring vocation (particularly younger women) and LGBT people and single people but don’t worry if you’re not in those groups you can still get in touch! I am married to a man but I identify as bisexual and work for a small lobby group called single friendly church which campaigns to make the church more welcoming to single people.

I am a mentor who believes listening and empowering others is one of the key ways to change the world. I am enthusiastic and genuinely interested in people and you can trust me to be completely honest and confidential (with the exception of safeguarding issues!) when dealing with you. If you like I’m willing to ask the difficult questions but I’m also willing to be a quiet sounding board, your cheerleader or a shoulder to cry on depending on what you need from me. I’m quite flexible in terms of time but at the moment I’m privileged enough to have Saturdays as my day off (I know, right!).

My interests range hugely from sci-fi and fantasy to economics, environmental issues, immigration policy to oil painting and very amateur jogging. I love a good chat and having people over and filling my home with people eating stuff and sharing stories. I also bake (mostly savoury things). I really believe the church (and the whole world is a stronger and better place when we enable everyone no matter their race, gender identity, sexuality, marital status, ability or different ability or age to discern and follow God’s call for them. If systems of oppression could just get out of the way and let all the people God is calling step up the mission of the church then we would be in a much better world right now.

I am mostly involved in fresh expressions of church and am extremely comfortable in the whole range of expressions of faith from the gasping beauty of Anglo Catholic sacramentalism to the whole body experience of Charismatic worship. At the moment I’m involved in leading a fresh expression called Foundation Bristol which experiments with ancient rites and rhythms and new tech-enabled patterns of contemplative worship. I think God speaks through both. I also find God mostly in people and have an Ignatian spirituality.