Nurse turned hospital chaplain said a 'pull on his heart' was what convinced him to change career
When a 15-year-old Martin McDonald was contemplating whether to pursue a religious vocation, he sought advice from someone well placed to give it.
“This call to ministry is hard to articulate and it can sound a bit woolly, but it’s something you just can’t escape – it’s in your every waking thought, every song you hear, every sermon you listen to, every bit of scripture you read. It just seems to speak directly to you. You can try and shake it off all you want, but it’s not going away.”
Having finally been ordained into the Church of England at a ceremony at Blackburn Cathedral earlier this month, the 50-year-old can now focus on serving patients in a new way. “People are moving away from referring to themselves as religious, but most people would say they are spiritual. “It’s not until you work in the NHS that you understand the pressure and the desire of staff to do their very best despite trying circumstances. That has been evident particularly during the pandemic. When that hit, the NHS upped a gear – and two-and-a-half years in, they are still working like mad.
Now officially the Reverend Martin McDonald following his ordination – a moment he described as a “beautiful experience [that] I didn’t want to end” – he will be attached to St. Cuthbert’s Church in Fulwood, where he will be part of parish life in addition to his duties leading a multi-faith team of chaplains within Lancashire Teaching Hospitals .
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