AOCM

A Year in the life of an AOCM Rep….

Anna Machin, AOCM rep for Ridley College in Cambridge last year gives us a snapshot of what being a College representative at AOCM conferences entails.

I really enjoyed my year as AOCM rep. It provided a great opportunity to meet ordinands from other Colleges and Courses, and to get a sense of what was happening on a larger scale. The meetings I attended combined a relaxed atmosphere with getting down to some serious debate over important issues affecting ordinands, ranging from accommodation or funding whilst in training to methods of assessment employed by tutors and staff or the process of obtaining a curacy. At times the discussion could get quite heated! I quickly discovered that many of the concerns brought up by students in my own College were shared by others. We were then able to pool our experiences and feed back to our Colleges and Courses, as well as to the Ministry Division.

This year a big concern has of course been the Report on the Structure and Funding of Ordination Training. For me this brought home once again the strategic role of an organisation like AOCM; we were able to put together a student response to the initial version of the report and had the chance to discuss our concerns with a representative from the Ministry Division. Personally speaking, I got a lot out of our discussions as the report went through its various stages: while we agreed on many things, people brought perspectives to the discussion that I’d never really considered. I think this reflects the breadth of experience people bring to training, and also the diversity of ways in which one can go about the training process.

A particular highlight for me was the Day of Worship and Reflection in Birmingham Cathedral in February 2002. As well as attending the various seminars and plenary session, I was able to spend time with people from other Colleges and to take part in the concluding service.

AOCM meetings are a fun way of getting to know other ordinands, as well as getting down to serious discussion. I would encourage anyone who enjoys meeting people from other traditions and feels a concern for representing ordinands at a national level to get involved; I’ve certainly valued my time as rep.