Cadet profile: Renae Phillips
Cadet profile: Renae Phillips
1 December 2021
Meet Renae Phillips, Messengers of Reconciliation
How did you know you were being called to officership?
I don’t often use the term ‘calling’ to describe my experience of coming into training to be an officer. For me, I was inspired by the officers around me and I had this growing dissatisfaction with the work I was engaged with and yet, a growing desire to serve God in full-time ministry.
What has been challenging about your training?
To state the obvious, COVID-19. I came into training having the expectation that I would follow the same path as those before me. And then COVID-19 hit. Like many people, COVID-19 turned my expectations upside-down. Instead of engaging in face-to-face classrooms, we went online and this meant that the dynamic changed in how I needed to learn.
What has been the most rewarding?
There are many rewarding aspects about the formation process but the one that stands out to me is all the people I have been able to meet and learn from. Both through the college experience and at placements with officers, staff, and volunteers, it has given me a better understanding of all the ways The Salvation Army are serving in their communities.
How has God stretched you during the past two years?
I have felt that it is my image of God that has been stretched through the formation experience. The college environment created, for me, a safe place where I could question my own beliefs and was challenged to explore new understandings of God and how that impacts who I am in ministry.
What is one important lesson you have learnt?
It doesn’t always go to plan but that doesn’t mean it failed.
Where have you been appointed during your cadetship?
Cranbourne (Vic.) and North East Salvos (SA).
Comments
No comments yet - be the first.