From court to church: Viv takes on new role
A former prosecutor has swapped the courtroom for the Church after being ordained as a deacon at Lichfield Cathedral.
Viv Starkie, from Stafford, worked as a prosecuting solicitor for the CPS in courts across the county for over 24 years before taking early retirement in 2012.
One of her most high profile cases was as prosecutor when footballer Stan Collymore was cleared of hitting his former girlfriend and mother of his then two-year-old son Michelle Green in 1998.
Now, after completing five years of preparation and training, she was one of 22 new curates to be ordained by the Bishop of Lichfield, the Right Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave, at the cathedral over the weekend.
She will work in an unpaid role as curate in the Mid-Trent Benefice, a rural team of ten churches in the Stafford area.
She said: “I never imagined when I was 33 that I would be ordained as a minister when I was 63.
"I was then a Prosecuting Solicitor with the Crown Prosecution Service with two small children.
"I only began teaching Sunday School to avoid the embarrassment of chasing around church after a toddler.
"As the years passed, I increasingly felt I should be doing more.
“Out of the blue, I decided to take early retirement.
"Still reeling from this unexpected change of direction, I suddenly realised that God was calling me to ministry and that my professional skills in advocacy, my passion for justice, my concerns for victims of hate crime and domestic violence, were all just preparation for a vocation in ministry.
"I still resisted because I was just not holy enough.
"I decided to take a Pathways Course and finally accepted that God was calling me to ministry."
The number of people coming forward for ordination in the Diocese of Lichfield, which covers all of Staffordshire as well as the Black Country and northern Shropshire, is on the increase
with twice as many new curates in 2017 compared to 2016.
Viv said: "I have been fortunate enough to be appointed as a curate in the Mid-Trent Benefice, a rural team of 10 churches.
"Each church is unique with a wide range of services from Book of Common Prayer to café-style.
"Ever since I embraced my vocation, I’ve felt a bubble of joy within me.”
More information about this year’s ordinations is available at www.lichfield.anglican.org
