Tanya Lord

Tanya was a Hair Stylist for many years before coming to faith in God and training for ministry in the Church of England at Trinity College Bristol. Whilst at College Tanya did a placement with the Chaplains at Southmead Hospital which opened her eyes to the needs of those that will not or cannot approach the Church for support. She loved the idea of ministry on the edge and not so much taking God with her but making his ever-present presence known! God is of course very involved out in his world not locked in a cupboard in an elaborate building! Her Ordination in 2009 coincided with her husband’s retirement from a varied career as an officer with Avon and Somerset Constabulary. Tanya served her curacy at an affluent city centre Church and her first incumbency on a deprived outer housing estate, both very different in demographic but both in Bristol. Tanya was thrilled to be invited to join the five-year Archbishops learning community The Strategic Leadership Development Programme which she completed last year. During the programme Tanya visited Northern Ireland on Pilgrimage with the Archbishop of Canterbury and her cohort and met with many involved in the troubles from the community and the police. She learnt a valuable lesson in truth, forgiveness and reconciliation, namely that peace alone is not reconciliation, not until we allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to step into the shoes of another, to view another’s story from their perspective, and lay down our own biases will we truly reconcile.
During the course Tanya chose to undertake a project on Chaplaincy, appreciating its vital importance as front line, coal face ministry. The project outlined the distinct absence of support in many of the diocesan strategies, where in many cases, money was being removed from chaplaincy initiatives. however, the project also highlighted how a few Diocese like Bath and Wells have done exemplary work with Chaplaincy and the project encourage others to follow suit. The accompanying results are still informing the Church’s strategy.
As an incumbent, Tanya trained twelve ordinands and a curate, alongside developing a lay leadership team of indigenous leaders ready to fly when she moved on to Lincolnshire. When the job advert for Deputy Chaplain for Lincs Police appeared in the Church Times, Tanya knew it was for her, she hadn’t been married to a Police officer for 30 years not to know about the difficulties officers had in trusting others and talking about the issues they faced.
Two and a half years ago the family upped sticks and came to Lincolnshire to serve and hasn’t looked back in regret for a minute.