Diocese of Salisbury Vocations Team
Type: Support service
Affiliations and accreditations
The Vocations team work with people of all ages and backgrounds to help explore God's call in their lives. If you are aged between 18 to 30 then we offer a one year internship to explore this call. For those over 30 and beyond the team provides expert vocations advice and discernment as you examine God's call to a range of ministries in the church.
The Diocese of Salisbury covers a part of England that extends from the south coast up into Dorset and most of Wiltshire, plus parts of Devon and Hampshire. It is the seventh largest in area in the Church of England, extending over 2000 square miles, with a population of about 932,000. Within this diocese there is wide diversity in geography between the many urban areas and the deeply rural ones.
The diocese includes 95% of Dorset, 75% of the unitary authority of Wiltshire, the unitary authority of Poole, 40% of the unitary authority of Bournemouth, a small part of west Hampshire and one parish in Devon.
Poole is the largest urban area, followed by Weymouth & Portland, Salisbury and Trowbridge (the county town of Wiltshire), with many smaller towns including Dorchester (the county town of Dorset), Ferndown and Devizes.
Rural areas are grouped round a number of market towns to which the rural population looks for shopping and most services, especially in Wiltshire.
The Vocations team consists of the Diocesan Vocations Co-ordinator who is helped by five assistant Vocation Co-ordinators and a team of forty Vocation Advisers. A separate team of Young Vocations advisers works in schools and colleges. Our job is to help all who feel called to serve God to explore and understand their calling. We do this through Vocation Enquiry Days and through conversations. We are especially keen to encourage young vocations and have a Ministry Expereince Scheme in operation that gives an opportunity for 18 to 30 year olds to live in urban or rural communities and expereince ministry in the local church. Expenses and living costs are paid, and participants receive a weekly allowance.
Details about our work can be found on our website salisburycalling.org