Life as

My name is Kirsty, and since September 2017 I’ve had the honour of serving as Clare’s Decani Scholar. It has been an utter pleasure to hold this scholarship for the last three years, and whilst I’m not quite graduating and leaving yet (my PhD still needs quite a bit of editing first!) it will be sad to step back from spending so much time with the Chapel community in and around College.

People often ask me what the Decani Scholar actually does, and it’s such a difficult question to answer because the role is so varied and life in Chapel is always full of surprises – even before COVID-19 arrived! Essentially the role description is to work alongside the Dean, assisting in planning and leading services in Chapel, and helping the Dean by being a point of contact with Chapel across the wider College community.

One of my favourite aspects of the role has been working with our wonderful team of Chapel wardens, a a group of staff, undergraduate and graduate students, and ordinands and ordinands-on-attachment, who do all the work behind the scenes to make the life of Chapel happen – from handing out service sheets and pouring wine, to planning events and building a community, so that all who visit Chapel, whatever their faith or worldview, feel welcome. It’s been a privilege over these last three years to work with such wonderful, energetic and genuinely loving people. We’ve had an immense amount of fun, and I’ve carried my honorary title of ‘Chapel mama’ with pride!

The Chapel wardens meet weekly during term (over lunch, as all good meetings should be!) and my role has involved leading these sessions
alongside the Dean as we catch up on life and plan ahead for services and events later in term. I’ve then worked with the Chapel wardens at each of our weekday services (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday for Evensong, Sunday Communion, and our Daily Morning Prayer), liaising too with Graham Ross, Nicola Robertson, Sophie Alabaster and our wonderful choir to help produce regular worship for the whole College community. I’ve also had lots of opportunity to lead services, to sing (which has been quite a steep learning curve!) and to preach, and I’ve had a wonderful time leading a Chapel reading group for the last three years. Highlights included a series on faith and poetry, and a year reading through the Chronicles of Narnia.

A particularly interesting aspect of the Decani role over the last three years has been the opportunity to work with two different Deans. For the first year and a bit I worked with Jamie Hawkey and for the last couple of years I’ve worked with Mark Smith. Both have been brilliant colleagues, have become dear friends, and have made my life at Clare a delight. A special thanks too to those beyond the main Chapel community, who’ve played an important part in my time at Clare – my fellow theology students, and the wonderful Boat Club, with whom I rowed this last year.

Beyond my work as Decani Scholar at Clare, and my PhD research in the Divinity Faculty (on Augustine of Hippo, the Trinity and prayer), I’ve also spent the last three years as an ordinand at Westcott House, training to be a Deacon and then a Priest in the Church of England. That training sees me away from Cambridge on an international placement for Michaelmas Term 2020, but I’m looking forward to returning to Cambridge and Clare for Lent and Easter 2021 after which I’m hoping to graduate and will be returning to the Diocese of St Albans to begin my curacy (first post) in a parish church.

I’ll be forever grateful for all that Clare has taught me about friendship and community, and all I’ve learned about Christian ministry through my work in Chapel, as I move into my new role and all that the future holds. I’m also delighted to be handing over the reins to Hannah Grady, a wonderful friend and fellow doctoral theologian, who takes up the Decani Scholarship for the 2020-21 academic year. I hope her time working in Chapel is as full of joy and laughter as mine has been!