Anne Gardner – Birmingham
I retired in August 2015 having worked as a Social Worker in Children’s Palliative care for 20 years, and prior to that in Adoption and Fostering.
I began life as a Methodist, moving to the Anglican church and finally “coming to faith” during a Student Mission at Durham University in 1972. My faith journey has taken me from a fairly fundamental Evangelicalism towards a Charismatic Renewal and then after a long period of disillusionment in my early 30s, into a more contemplative way of living out my faith. I am currently an Attender at my local Quaker meeting and have links with PCN, and a Centering Prayer Group which meets once a month. I am a student of the Wild Goose Zen Sangha and have Spiritual Direction with a Jesuit priest. I enjoy reading for example Richard Rohr, Jack Spong, Brian McLaren, Mary Oliver and Nicola Slee. I see faith as a journey and more and more as an experience to be lived rather than a set of beliefs.