Student story: Jocelyn
Jocelyn Bignill, Graduate Certificate student at MAC
Jocelyn Bignill: Equipped to care for the broken hearted.
Jocelyn Bignill was born into a Christian family, to parents who decided to take their faith seriously following the birth of their daughter. Jocelyn was very aware of her parents’ faith. She shares, “I grew up with an amazing example in the way that they practised their faith and served, they were consistent and contributing. Faith was very important.”
At university, Jocelyn studied teaching, and her career took her to Tamworth to work. There she joined St Peters Anglican in South Tamworth where she got involved in serving and embedded herself in the church community. After a few years at St Peters she was ‘tapped on the shoulder’ to do MTS, an in church ministry apprenticeship through Ministry Training Strategy, designed to help people explore vocational ministry.
“Mental health is such a huge part of ministry these days. It was something that felt really pertinent and useful to be more equipped in from a Christian perspective”
Jocelyn says, “I actually didn’t even know what that was, and I wasn’t sure because I hadn't been teaching for very long and I was really enjoying it. But in the end I decided to take two years out and do MTS and then thought I could go back to teaching after that.”
However, her experience of doing MTS changed the direction of Jocelyn’s future. She shares, “I'd never been at a church that had a woman on the staff team before, as the church I grew up in was quite small. This was the first time I saw what the role of a woman on a staff team in church was, and how it could be something really useful.”
Jocelyn worked at St Peters for three years doing MTS, honing her ministry skills and listening to God. Through his guidance and the encouragement of others, she decided to pursue vocational ministry and went to Moore Theological College in Sydney.
After studying at Moore College, Jocelyn took up the role of Assistant Minister at All Saints Petersham in Sydney where she still currently works. After the difficult years of ministering to people through lockdowns, Jocelyn was feeling a bit flat. She says, “I was feeling kind of uninspired in my ministry. Stuff was getting done that needed to be done, but I wasn’t taking initiative. I felt the way lots of people were feeling”
“I wanted to do some learning that would help me to be refreshed and also to improve the way I do ministry.”
Then Jocelyn attended the Youthworks House Conference. She found it helpful and refreshing, and this put her on a new path: the pursuit of more professional development. She says, “I wanted to do some learning that would help me to be refreshed and also to improve the way I do ministry.”
So when her Rector Ben Gray showed her an advertisement for the Graduate Certificate of Pastoral Care for Mental Health at Mary Andrews College, it was the right time for Jocelyn. She had experienced the teaching of lead course teacher Dr Keith Condie before, while at Moore College, and had respected and enjoyed his tutelage.
Jocelyn says, “Mental health is such a huge part of ministry these days. It was something that felt really pertinent and useful to be more equipped in from a Christian perspective, and to think through different aspects of mental health and how to be caring for and loving people.”
When she signed up for the Certificate, her plan was to study on campus at Mary Andrews College, but the long NSW lockdown of 2021 determined otherwise, with the first semester of the course being conducted entirely online.
Jocelyn found that a few things were “a bit of a lifesaver” during that lockdown period, including doing the Certificate class online and having different people to meet with each week. “And doing some learning about mental health,” she adds, “was even more pertinent during that period.”
In 2022 the cohort, including Jocelyn, was able to transition to studying in person at Mary Andrews College. Being able to meet with her fellow students in the learning environment of Mary Andrews College has been a welcome and positive change. A wide range of people are doing the course, including other ministers, chaplains, church lay leaders and ministers’ wives.
Jocelyn speaking at an event at All Saints, Petersham
Jocelyn says, “Connecting with all those people has been really valuable as well. It’s also been great having that one time in the week [attending college], and that one block of time has fitted in well with my schedule. It’s been really doable while doing full-time ministry.”
Having said that, though, the online delivery of the Certificate is something Jocelyn sees as extremely important to continue. She reflects, “Having been in Tamworth for five years, and then been in Sydney now for almost eight years, you realize that in Sydney, we just have access to so many resources and opportunities for learning and development that you don’t get when you’re somewhere like Tamworth. So it’s great seeing that there’s people from Orange and from all over the place that are able to join in online and be part of the course who wouldn’t have been able to if it was just in person.”
What she has learnt so far has built Jocelyn’s confidence and ability to minister to her members in their unique situations. She feels more equipped to care for people and walk alongside them.
Jocelyn shares, “[The graduate certificate] has been helpful and encouraging. It has grown in me in a little bit more confidence in understanding mental health. Having more knowledge and a bit more perspective as well has been helpful in being able to talk to people and think through their mental health struggles or joys with them.”
The Graduate Certificate of Pastoral Care for Mental Health offers specialised training in pastoral responses to mental health and wellbeing with a focus on preventative and reactive strategies. It is designed to be a professional development course for men and women who work in ministry, professional health care workers, and Christians working in schools.
The course also aims to equip students with a rigorous theological framework for mental health and wellbeing that is biblically grounded.