Rector's Note: from our Intern

Hello All Saints,

My name is Alex Firman, I’m a seminary student from Oxford, England and I will be with you for the next month from July 7th to August 5th as part of my training for ministry. I have just finished my first of two years of training with the Church of England at a seminary called Cuddesdon which is just outside the city of Oxford. That means I get to live in some of the most idyllic scenery in England! As part of my training I am required to go and experience daily life in a parish to help broaden my skills for future ministry. As the Church of England doesn’t make any restrictions on where we can go and Rev. Andria has been kind enough to say yes, here I am. The accent will probably stand out but as you can see from the photo, I’ll be pretty well camouflaged in Portland.

I am here with my wife Bailey who is from Welches and our baby daughter Zoe who turned one year old in June. The past year of a newborn and starting seminary has meant the year has gone in a blur. Before seminary and a baby, Bailey and I met and have lived in England since we married in 2015. We both worked as market gardeners mostly in the West of England. Our last job was working for a nonprofit that provided outreach and rehabilitation services for the rural homeless community. Bailey and Zoe will be staying with Bailey’s parents in Welches but hopefully you will get to meet them sometime over the month. I’ll be preaching a couple of times so if you see anyone holding up scorecards, that will be my family.

I’m really looking forward to experiencing urban ministry in another Church of the Anglican Communion. Having been a market gardener I have little personal experience of the Church in a city and with the diversity of Portland I hope that it will be great to see faith expressed in another setting and another culture. Whilst I’m from an Anglophone country, I hope that being part of the life of All Saints will be an enriching and rewarding time for us all.

Looking forward to meeting you all over the next month.

Alex