Following the God of Surprises
How often has an ordained Pentecostal minister subsequently become a deacon in the Church of England? That’s the journey of Dr Grace Bally-Balogun, who has now left behind a career in retail management, latterly with River Island, for full-time Anglican ministry.
Dr Grace Bally-Balogun at the Multiply Conference, June 2023
Tell us about your journey from Pentecostalism to ordination in the Church of England.
This has been a step of faith – the biggest step of faith that I’ve ever had to take in my life. I graduated with a Masters from St Mellitus College in London around ten years ago. I had
a very strong sense of the presence
of the Holy Spirit at the end of the graduation ceremony, and I was just looking around the church, and felt I didn’t want to leave. I joked with the then dean [Andy Emerton, now Bishop of Sherwood] and asked if he would take on a Pentecostal to teach in an Anglican college? And he laughed at me and said ‘of course, yes!’.
How much of a surprise has this journey been?
Full of surprises! I had the opportunity to apply for a part-time role as Beginning Theology Coordinator at
St Mellitus. But the day I was asked to think about it, I just said there’s no way it would work – the pay wouldn’t even cover my mortgage! But that evening, as I was about to pray, the Lord spoke
straight to me. And he said something like, I’ve prepared this role for you, and trust me, I will provide for you. Within a few months I had a new permanent role in change management on a part- time basis with John Lewis. As I began the role at St Mellitus, there was this strong sense of calling – that God was asking more of me within the Church of England.
Did you have to deal with any misconceptions you had about Anglicanism?
God’s just turned my understanding
of the Anglican Church upside down. I thought, these Anglicans, they believe in funny things. They don’t know the Holy Spirit. How am I going to cope? And God surprised me, and college worship was amazing because it was so charismatic. I realised actually I had a misunderstanding of the Anglican Church. What I’ve noticed is that God has given grace to each denomination, and each one has a strength. But they also have excesses that exist. And for me, it’s been about taking the best of everything, and seeing what the Holy Spirit was doing.
What has become particularly significant for you within the CofE?
I realised that how we celebrate Communion is so important to me. It gives me strength to continue week by week. And I found that in the liturgy, there was a focus on God’s word, and our relationship with God. There’s something about the liturgy that unites everyone – it brings us all together as a collective. Free worship is wonderful, but it’s not everything.
How do you feel you are called to hold together your different strands of Christian experience?
Coming into the Church of England during my training, I didn’t feel like God was completely releasing me from the Pentecostal denomination. What I found is that God wants me to hold the two in unity - I’m finding that God has a role for me to speak to both at this time. God has called me into the Church of England, but he hasn’t told me to cut my links off with the Pentecostal church. And the New Testament Church of God has generously recognised this calling on my life.
“What I’ve noticed is that God has given grace to each denomination, and each one has a strength.”
What do you think the Spirit is saying to the whole church about unity at this time?
I feel like, at this time, and in this season, the whole church has to find a way to work together and to unite, because I feel prophetically that there’s going to be a proliferation of future events that could negatively impact the church, unless we are united. We need to be united, and we need to stand for truth. And the church is being attacked on that right now
Dr Grace Bally-Balogun
Curate at St Barnabas Kensington, and working with St Mellitus College and The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication in London.