| June 14th marked Commissioning Day, when Wycliffe Hall bid a formal farewell to this year's leavers as they prepare to take all they have learned into the wider world. |
In their own words, here are some of their future plans and prayer requests. Please support them in your prayers as they prepare for all sorts of new beginnings:
Alexi Andriopoulos
"I'm to be a Curate, church planting with Platt Church in Manchester. I am really thankful for our time at Wycliffe. We are excited to make Jesus known in our city where so few know him as Lord and Saviour. Please pray for our family in this new chapter that we might (as Paul prays for the Ephesians) 'have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ'".
Anando Mukerjee
"I will be Curate at St. James' Muswell Hill as an SSM. I've loved my time at Wycliffe particularly my academic studies and being taught by some of the most distinguished scholars in their field in one of the world's greatest universities - a huge privilege and blessing. But it is the friendships I've made that I will treasure most, those whom I leave behind and those who follow me into ordained ministry. Being an Evangelist and Apologist is what I'm most looking forward to in my curacy. I'd appreciate prayers for the large number of young people / Gen Z's who attend my new church to hear, accept and grow in the gospel."
Andrew Saul
"I am retired but will continue volunteering for the CSW charity. I have hugely enjoyed and valued my time at Wycliffe including the friendships made. I would ask for prayer for CSW."
Becky Langley
"I will be heading 'across the pond,' (mostly) virtually to study the Masters in Liberal Arts at Harvard. I am also re-entering the workforce to teach at a school with great social and spiritual needs."
Bethan Willis
"I am going to be Assistant Curate at St Matthews and St Lukes, Oxford as well as continuing with my current role leading the Oxford Pastorate. I've really enjoyed being a part of the Wycliffe community, the collegiality here is brilliant. The excellent worship and preaching in chapel has been a highlight, and it has been great to see so many gifted ordinands being formed here as they prepare to be sent out to serve the church."
Bex Davidson
"I'm going to be ordained and will be working in Leeds in the Benefice of Moor Allerton and Shadwell. Wycliffe Hall has challenged me, grown me and formed me ready for ordained ministry. It has been a wild ride with many joy filled moments along the way. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to study at Wycliffe. I would appreciate prayers for myself and Paul as we settle back into living in Leeds and begin our new jobs. We are looking forward to getting to know a different part of Leeds and build community here."
Clinton Collister
"I have accepted a job as Assistant Professor of Theology and Humanities at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul, Minnesota, where I will be teaching systematic theology and the humanities. I will be ordained by Bp. Darryl Fitzwater in my home diocese, All Saints, in the Anglican Church in North America, where I served as a lay catechist and church planter before moving to the United Kingdom. The ordination is scheduled to take place in August in the Twin Cities. As an ordinand training for the priesthood at Wycliffe Hall, I most appreciated the culture of joy and gratitude cultivated by Fr Michael and Fr Justin. I believe that that by modelling humble service and Christian charity to one another, and to the students, the leadership team at Wycliffe inspired ordinands and scholars to pursue truth, and prepare for ministry, with an awareness that each man and woman sitting at the desk beside them is made to be a co-heir with Christ, and God can do more in and through them than we can possibly imagine."
Daniel Carter
"Training for ordination at Wycliffe was truly a blessing from start to finish! My family and I felt that God had us in the right at the right time and are very grateful for the amazing Wycliffe team and the new friends we have made along the way. We have grown in our relationship with Jesus and are extremely excited for the new pastures of curacy in Hazelmere."
Daniel Kim
"I’ll be a Curate at St Aldates, Oxford, getting ordained on the 5th of July. The last four years have been an absolute joy and delight at Wycliffe Hall. I am not the same person as when I came. Please pray for Charlotte and me that we would settle into what will be an incredibly busy and exciting season.”
Elliot Otteson
"I am returning to the States to lead a church located in the Pacific Northwest. My time in Oxford has amounted to some of the most challenging, rewarding work of my life. I've enjoyed one-to-ones with Tom Wright. I benefited from over 60 hours of seminars discussing evangelism with the missiologist Ed Stetzer. And I was transformed by daily worship experiences shared with the community at Wycliffe. Prayers appreciated as I transition back into full-time pastoral ministry, where I look forward to equipping the Church for its next season of evangelism and discipleship in the twenty-first century."
Jo Barrington
"I am serving my curacy in the Diocese of Leeds in the Benefice of Headingley and All Hallows. I'd love prayer as I settle into life and community in Leeds."
Kadia Ly
"I will be Curate at St Peter's in Vauxhall, South London. My time here has been a season of growth but also a time when God affirmed me in my calling and in who he said I am. I am grounded more than ever in Christ, my Lord and my Saviour. I have learned that challenges can become lessons and in turn the lessons can turn into blessings. I am looking forward to doing what I believe I have been called to do. Exciting times coming my way!
I have 3 prayers:
- that I continue to trust God with the gifts he has bestowed upon me;
- that I continue to use them for His glory;
- that in everything I do and say Jesus' light and love shines through."
Lizibeth Fischer
"I have accepted a one-year research fellowship in philosophy of religion at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA. My season at Wycliffe has been a gift. During my time in this supportive community, I have gained clarity in my sense of calling: to help people think wisely and well about the most meaningful questions in life. As I leave, please pray that the Lord would lead me into a new community and stable employment where I can continue to grow, love, and serve in this vocational direction."
Monique Mendes da Costa
I will be Curate to West Weald Parish - a group of 5 villages with 3 churches in semi-rural Sussex! My ordination is in Chichester Cathedral on 5th July. Wycliffe has been the most amazing prayerful learning community to be a part of. I have grown here in both head and heart knowledge of God, have been encouraged and supported by such a loving bunch of people and been inspired by the many different giftings and personalities represented here that will go out into the world and do amazing things in all spheres of life and culture in Jesus' name! Please pray for our house move and my ordination on the 5th July, that I settle into the new role and for my husband Abraham as he works out new work rhythms too. I am most looking forward to being back out in a local community full time, to getting involved at our 4 (!) schools and in two of the new missional communities and learning more on the ground alongside my training incumbent, Carl.
Maria Godau
"I will continue working on my own fashion label and am most likely doing a DPhil here in Oxford in history in 2026 (I have a supervisor who would like to supervise me, but still need the formal application process)."
Marieke
"I'm beginning my Curacy in Southwark diocese. Please pray for the big transition!"
Matthew Clark
"I am going to West Downland Benefice, Berkshire. I would welcome your prayers."
Nathan Hamilton
"I’m starting a curacy at Ryde Church on the Isle of Wight. Wycliffe has been a place that has grown and changed and shaped my faith through study, community, and kindness. I am indebted to those who have walked alongside me in my three years here, and I will carry lessons I’ve learned here forward into ministry. As we move, Alys, Betsy and I would love prayer for a smooth transition into full time ministry, and for us to find community and a rhythm of life that will sustain us for the length of our curacy."
Oliver Wright
"I am going to be a Junior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford. And I am being ordained as self-supporting assistant curate in training to St Clement’s, Oxford. I am excited about pursuing further academic theological research, writing, and teaching, but it will be busy alongside my new responsibility as a curate in a local parish. Please pray for me, for Becca and the kids, as we juggle these new roles and responsibilities."
Olly Shaw
"I am going to a curacy at St Mary's Church, Chipping Norton. I would welcome your prayers."
Pete Balchin
"I will be leaving Wycliffe to be a Curate in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. I have loved my time at Wycliffe, and I am very grateful to all the students and staff who make Wycliffe such a great community to study and train in. My time at Wycliffe can't last forever, and I'm looking forward to putting into practice what I've been training for over the last three years."
Ronia Jamera
"I will be Assistant Curate, St Luke's Gas Street Birmingham. I am deeply grateful for my time at Wycliffe. I began my journey here shy and reserved, but I leave having discovered and developed my theological voice. I now look forward to using that voice in meaningful and impactful ways. I would be grateful for your prayers, especially for continued boldness as I take this next step."
Rosie Phillips
“I’m really looking forward to starting my curacy at St Peter's Morley in the Diocese of Leeds, after a rich and formative three years at Wycliffe."
Sam Haiser
"I’m going to serve as Assistant Curate at the chaplaincy of Citykirche Vienna. As one of the only German-speaking Churches in the Diocese in Europe, I am looking forward to seeing the gospel preached in my beautiful home and especially seeing the young generation come to faith there. Please pray for new creative ways for us to reach young people in this city-centre church, as I will be in charge of children and youth ministry there."
Szabina Patel
"I will be moving to Faringdon (Diocese of Oxford)."
Theresa Haiser
"I will be working as a speaker for the Pontes Institute for science, culture and faith, doing evangelism and apologetics in Austria, Germany and Switzerland."
Will Stonham
"I'm going to serve on the team at Christ Church Fulwood in the Diocese of Sheffield."
More picture from the Commissioning Day service and BBQ
Photo credits (above and below): Chaz Snell, Plastic Goldfish
