I had got... very involved with the... Evangelical Church of England at
Morden
...and I decided that I would really like to go into the ministry …
so I
got in touch with Coram, and they... well, Foundling Ho-- Thomas Coram, as
it
was in those days, and they put me in touch with Delia Ashworth, who used to
be
the Senior Child Welfare Officer there. So I went and saw her, and we
had
a long chat about this … she found me accommodation at Oak Hill
Theological College in North London, at Cockfosters … and then I got
called up to do my National Service … I didn't do a great deal in my
national service. The only thing I did do, and the thing that I really
benefited from was it made me realise that at my age, twenty, then, and and
my
background and upbringing, that there was no way that I could go into the
ministry, because I just didn't have the experience of life or anything
about
it. I mean, except what I'd learned over the last couple of years, you
know. I did go back to college after I left, but then I went and saw
the
principal and said, "There's no way I can do this." And explained why, and
he
said, "Oh," he said, "I I I think you could cope, you could manage with
this.
Let's-- let's kneel down and pray about this." So we knelt down and we
had
our little prayer session, and... you know, "Go away and think about it
overnight and pray about it, and it'll come clear to you what you've got to
do,
and come and see me tomorrow." So I went and saw him tomorrow, and
said,
"I'm sorry, but I really do not feel qualified to do this job.", "Oh,
oh,
it'd be such a pity if you give up now," so I said, "It's not a question of
giving up," I said, "It's a question of I don't have the experience of life
to
do it." I said, "What-- what would I say if somebody comes to me and
said,
'My wife's just died.' What am I going to say to him?" So in the end,
he
agreed that I could pack the course in... which I did.