Cate joins us a Minister-in-Training

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Countess Free Church are pleased to announce that Cate Allen is joining the staff of the church as a Minister-in-Training, with a specific role to develop the ministry of the Rich Tea Community.

Cate – a member of the church – has been training for accreditation as a Baptist minister (chaplain) for the past 18 months, learning ‘on the job’ in a hospital chaplaincy setting. In parallel she has been the instigator and co-leader of the Rich Tea Community initiative here in Ely. For the remainder of her training (a further 18 months), Cate will expand her work with the Rich Tea Community and this will become one of her formal training placements.

We made a strategic decision to start making provision for pioneer ministry

We are pleased to welcome Cate onto the church staff team in this capacity. As well as the Rich Tea monthly gatherings on Sunday afternoons, Cate will be working with the church one day per week to take the work out of the church building, pioneering this ministry in new ways. The Rich Tea initiative is about welcoming and making Christian spirituality accessible to those with disabilities, in particular learning disabilities.

Rev. Karl Relton, pastor of Countess Free Church, said: “Some years ago we made a strategic decision to start making provision for pioneer ministry, but at the time we deliberately laid down a blank sheet of paper and prayed for God to reveal what the contents should be. We can now see God revealing what those contents can look like, reaching out to one of the most marginalised groups in our society”.

In our regular morning gathering on Sunday 26th February we will include a time to formerly induct & commission Cate into this work.