InterviewBlog | In conversation with Isabelle Hamley
In conversation with Isabelle Hamley
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 02.03.19
REVD ISABELLE HAMLEY was licenced as Archbishop’s Chaplain in January 2017, a role which encompasses the pastoral care of the Archbishop and others in Lambeth Palace as well as wide reaching involvement in various aspects of the ministry of the ABC. Originally from France, Isabelle has lived in England for over twenty years. She has worked as a university chaplain, probation officer, vicar and tutor in biblical studies and has a husband and young daughter, who often comes to the palace after school to do homework and join the evening worship.
Isabelle is reflective, warm and perceptive. She laughs easily, often at herself, and wears her extraordinary giftedness lightly. She seems surprised to find herself in such a dizzyingly responsible role at the heart of the Church of England and confesses she was equally happy in the Baptist churches where her journey started. As we speak however, it becomes clear she is exactly where she should be, doing work she is uniquely equipped to do.
js How did this job come about?
Rather accidentally! I was a vicar in Nottingham and teaching Old Testament part time at St John’s College. I knew the college was in some difficulty and I was likely to lose half of my post. And then my husband was made redundant from his job at the University of Nottingham. So we said that we’d both apply for things and go with whoever got one first.
