The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, Bishop of Bristol, has appointed Revd Jordan Ling as Adviser for Clergy Wellbeing, a temporary six-month secondment beginning February 2022.
The role is a development on her previous post as Adviser for Ministerial Support and Wellbeing, which she was doing for one day a week alongside parish ministry work.
Jordan said: “It feels as though the pandemic has heightened some of the pressures for us all, including clergy, and this time now is especially crucial in supporting the wellbeing and thriving of our clergy.”
Jordan will work in her new post as Adviser for Clergy Wellbeing two and a half days a week, and continue her post as vicar of the King’s Way Benefice (St Aidan with St George; St John’s Fishponds; and St Michael the Archangel, Two Mile Hill).
Revd Mary Hotchkiss will be appointed curate in charge of the benefice as Jordan takes on her new role.
Revd Simon Taylor, Director of Ministry Development in the diocese, said: “I’m really pleased that Jordan has taken on this role. It is a marked increase in the support we are able to offer clergy and it is hugely important that we can. She brings experience and expertise to this position which will benefit many people.”
Jordan added: “I feel privileged to be walking alongside our clergy and their families in supporting their wellbeing needs. I feel this new chapter affords more space to be fully present for our clergy. I believe ordained ministry to be a unique calling in both its joys and pressures and one that, in all expressions of ordained ministry, is to be cherished.
“I look forward to coordinating with our bishops, archdeacons, and senior staff in a holistic way to develop this further.”
Before being ordained in 2009, Jordan worked as a counsellor and mentor. During her 13 years as a priest, she has served as a curate in deprived parts of Leicester and as the incumbent in various East Bristol parishes.