Introducing Anna Hawken, who joined St Paul's on 1st September 2011 as our new Children's Minister.
My background…
I was born in Milton Keynes and lived there with my parents and three brothers until I was eighteen. My parents are strong Christians and I grew up going to a little village church and acting in various family Christian dramas that my dad used to write. When I was in the sixth form, God gave me quite a specific call to work in a home for new-born and abandoned babies in South Africa so I spent a gap year there before moving to Oxford to do a degree in Human Sciences (a mixture of biological and social sciences) at Somerville College. After my degree, I stayed in Oxford for another year to work for St Aldate’s as a children's intern.
Children's ministry…
I think my desire to work in ministry probably stems from my own experiences as a child. Particularly at New Wine, I was prayed for and encouraged by leaders who really believed that children could have a deep, personal, growing relationship with God. As I grew up, I became increasingly grateful for those people who invested in me as a child and I think the strength of my faith now has a lot to do with my early years because I had encounters with God which meant that even when things were tough and doubts and worries came my way, there was a real solidarity to my faith. My passion increasingly became not just to spend time with children but to help them connect with God and try to be like those people who helped me to meet Jesus and surrender my life to him when I was young.
Time at St Aldate’s…
I've been spending a couple of days a week receiving theological training and the rest of the time I'm involved in all sorts of different activities working with 0-14s. My week includes a girls' discipleship group, a youth club, two after-school clubs, a toddler group and running our 7-10s group on a Sunday morning. I've also had lots of fun dressing up as a pirate and a cowboy for our evangelistic kids' parties; playing wide games and staying up late at our kids' sleepovers and playing playground games with an entire school full of kids during our mission trip to Kenya!
God's guiding hand…
I had a really deep sense of excitement about the job and felt very strongly that it was right to apply. God was very gracious in confirming that it is where He wants me, in lots of different little ways. It's been such a blessing to feel so at peace that St Paul's is where God has brought me.
Prayers…
I'd really value your prayers that I will settle in quickly both in terms of my job at St Paul's and my move to St Albans too. Please pray that I'll quickly form really good relationships with the whole church family but especially the children, parents and those involved in children's ministry. Pray that God will give me great wisdom and insight as to where to first focus my energies and just that I will be really attentive and obedient to whatever He is telling me for the children of St Paul's.
Click here to download the full interview which appeared in July's Contact Magazine. (St Pauls Parish Magazine )
Click Here to see the press release 5th September 2011
