Local Face: Nadine Rose
Nadine has spent a lot of her life in and around the Oxford Diocese but the ideas which set her journey to ordination were nurtured in York.
She was born in Oxford and spent her childhood growing up in Marcham, Oxfordshire, attending the small village primary school and the local Baptist Church. As a teenager Nadine easily slipped away from these influences leaving her secondary school at 16 in favour of College for A-levels and a course in secretarial skills. During this time she also worked at Littlewoods in Oxford and was invited to join the retail management training course at 18 which she was happy to do. From there she became PA to Ruth Sillitoe, Director of Housing for the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) which moved its headquarters from London to Oxford. Shortly after this an opportunity arose in Abingdon in a recruitment agency for office staff. Nadine has always worked with people. At 17 Nadine met Howard, a young car mechanic apprentice. They married in May 1989 and looked forward to a life settled in a place they knew well.
A mere 4 weeks later, Howard was offered a serious promotion and so they moved to York. Howard’s family was from Sunderland but Nadine was really a southern girl. Without any family nearby, Nadine and Howard found the responsibility of bringing up a child overwhelming – no handbook had been provided! Nick arrived in 1990 followed by his sister Lydia in 1995. A friendly couple invited them to York Community Church where they were immediately made to feel very welcome. They felt they belonged even before investigating belief. They soon realised that not only did the Christian faith offer guidelines for bringing up a child but also it seemed to fill a void they hadn’t noticed in their own lives. They became active members of this very special Christian Community.
Then the inevitable happened and Howard was tempted back south for work. Nadine was a reluctant mover as the children were now settled in school but by 1998 they were in Great Missenden. The move south brought a financial shock! St Peter and St Paul Church fulfilled the needs of their children and so it became their new Parish. When Rev Rosie Harper became the new vicar, Nadine became her Pastoral Worker for 8 years. Lay minister Patricia Neale became a firm friend. Later, with another friend, she founded Rix and Rose, an interior company. One evening in church, she realised that God was calling her along a different new path, one which she had managed to block out ever since she had been inexorably drawn to morning prayer while working for the YWCA and at other times on her faith journey. This time she listened.
Nadine was hesitant to start on an academic course which required her to read for in depth research and write essays but all the preliminary work persuaded her that the part time course offered at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, would work for her so she started in 2013 under the leadership of Martin Percy. Ordination came in 2016 at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford and her curacy (on the job training) was with the Wychert Vale Benefice. The family home moved to a vicarage in Cuddington. This was a full time stipended post so Nadine had plenty of work to do. All 6 churches between Thame and Aylesbury were very different. At the end of the curacy, the Rector was moving on, Nadine’s mentor, Margot Hodson was moving to a Benefice in the Cotswolds so she was tempted to stay but friends encouraged her to apply for the newly created post at Wendover. Sally Moring and Nadine met, she applied and in November 2019 was appointed Associate Priest.
Nadine and Howard were able to move back to Great Missenden, where they have so many friends, and experienced their first Wendover Christmas. Nick and his wife Becky moved back from Singapore in time for Henry (now 3) to be born in UK. They now live in Chesham and Ralph (1) has arrived, too. Lydia is teaching at Chesham Bois CofE Combined School and living back at home again. This means the whole family can spend precious time together.
Nadine organised the Pancake Party in St Mary’s on Tuesday 25 February and about 40 children came along. She is now looking forward to her first Easter in this Parish and is committed to helping the community in general at this difficult time.
