Clive's bio
by Oliver Home
Clive Deverell was licensed on 10 November as Anglican Team Minister in the West Swindon & the Lydiards Church Partnership.
Bishop Lee and Clive Deverell
Clive’s journey into and through ministry started a long time ago. Brought up in the 1960s and 1970s in Dorset, his personal commitment to follow Jesus came following spending time as a late teenager at a Franciscan friary in Cerne Abbas where he saw and felt the depth of faith the brothers there had. He started to consider ministry and a Church Army officer in the Parish suggested he do some work with him.
“I was then thinking ‘Yes, this must be it’,” Clive recalls, “but then I saw they all wore grey – not my colour at all – and the Jonah in me came to the fore. However after working with another officer and meeting students, I was encouraged to test my calling, entered college in 1983 and was commissioned in 1986.”
Clive worked as a Church Army officer in Aylesbury, Milton Keynes (twice), Holloway and Central London, Pitsea in Essex and in Hampton and Paston in Peterborough doing parish work, youth work, church planting, community building and working with homeless people.
“My call to ordained ministry began some seven years ago with a former colleague encouraging me to consider ordination but up popped that Jonah in me again. I never felt that God would use me in such a way. It was only after moving to Peterborough and receiving the same encouragement to test out God’s calling did the process towards ordination begin, followed by training and a curacy.
“It has made me realise many things but mostly this: that God continues to call, challenge and use us, however unworthy we might feel on occasions,” he concludes.
Looking forward to ministry in West Swindon, Clive says: “One of the great pleasures I have had in the past is to be part of an ecumenical team. Ecumenism enables us to build upon the rich tapestry of gifts and skills over a wider area. I hope to bring a passion for ecumenism, so that amongst us the diversity there will continue to be the desire to show unity not uniformity in our faith, enabling us over a wider area to tap into the gifts and skills God has provided.”
Speaking about what motivates him, Clive says, “I see my vocation as enlarging the offering: I want to see people come to know Jesus, love and learn about Jesus, and share Jesus; to see people of whatever age grow from convert to disciple to apostle. Those who know me well, have often heard me say that we must constantly look for the little glimpses of God shown in those around us. It is the that walking alongside and being part of God’s encountering, changing impact on peoples lives that daily spurs me on.”
Clive admits his sense of humour “can be a tad dry”. He follows AFC Bournemouth and is a member of their exiles club; he is also an Old Blandfordian, enjoys quizzes, walking the theatre and film.
Clive's bio at Diocesan site, and Clive's Licensing
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This page last modified 15:12:55 GMT on Fri 11 Jan, 2013
