Jim Seth on Zoom

Jim Seth, on Zoom of course

Jim Seth has been nominated for the Cross of St Piran for all the ways in which he helps and nurtures others. From the huge task of safeguarding in our diocese to coaching parishioners on the finer points of the Zoom unmute button in a pandemic.

As a teacher, trainer and chaplain, Jim has an unerring ability to empower, connect and enable people. He can do this because he takes the time to understand and learn about an issue from all sides. As he says, “It’s not just a desire to give something, but to enable me to do more. If I get involved in one thing, it helps me with another”

A journey that began with Jim Seth, annoying teenage atheist

His journey to becoming Chaplain to the Readers, trainer for the diocese in safeguarding and pivotal technophile for the Redruth benefice began as a teenage atheist rebel. “I was very annoying, but so was my non-conformist minister aunt who tried at every opportunity to convert me!”

“I was very annoying, but so was my non-conformist minister aunt who tried at every opportunity to convert me!”

Jim ended his teacher training in London by saying he would take any teaching post so long as it didn’t involve a church school. While working on the supply teacher list, God had some fun. After sending him to Clitterhouse JMI School (“Imagine what the kids called that,” he laughs), he was sent as a supply teacher to St John’s Church of England School, where he ended up staying for five years.

“I arrived an atheist, refusing to join in the prayers and Hymns, but no one judged me. All I ever had was kindness and in that I began to know what God’s love could mean for me.” Jim still reflects on that time and the way his fellow staff members were. “They really showed me that it wasn’t a failure of faith to not want to evangelise at a bus stop, but that we’re all called to be the people we need to be.”

“They really showed me that it wasn’t a failure of faith to not want to evangelise at a bus stop, but that we’re all called to be the people we need to be.”

A rich season of growth and how not to alienate new incumbents

Moving to Cornwall and attending a memorial service for his mother-in-law at St Euny shifted Jim’s axis further towards faith. “I didn’t know why, but I knew I had to speak to the curate, Revd Mike Peters, after the service.” That conversation led to Jim leading the Sunday school, then the youth group, house group…and eventually to train as a Reader.

“For a while, we were in a hot-bed of growth. From our house group, Solomon’s Porch, four people became priests and three became Readers,” one of whom was Jim. It’s fair to say that Jim has seen a lot of incumbents come and go in Redruth and in his various church roles has become a rich fountain of knowledge, useful to a newbie. But Jim is cautious, years as a deputy head equipped him well. “It’s just irritating if someone says we’ve always done it like this, so I simply ask what do you need and how can I facilitate that?”

“It’s just irritating if someone says we’ve always done it like this, so I simply ask what do you need and how can I facilitate that?”

Lay ministry as a vocation

Lay ministry is really important to Jim and he is thankful it is highly valued by the team at Redruth. “It’s a vocation, in the same way that teaching is.” He says it is not what he does, it is who he is, which is probably why he has been so effective as Chaplain to the Readers. He really understands what it entails, the challenges Readers face and the need for them to feel supported and connected to each other.

One way of keeping people connected is to keep them informed. Jim diligently writes and sends out The Chaplains Blog and Prayers every week, linking to the website he set up. Both are a mine of information and support, not just for Readers but Churchwardens and anyone who is involved in lay ministry. It’s a good read, liberally sprinkled with Jim’s good humour and salty reflections!

He also set up a group, now virtual, for Readers to meet up. Pre-pandemic it was just for local Readers but the power of Zoom has meant that Readers from Linkenhorne to the tip of the Lizard can connect with each other.

Technophiles and technophobes

Everything Jim Seth does seems to play to his strengths and his experiences. When no one was interested in computers, Jim, back in the 70s, commandeered two computers for his classroom and taught his ten-year-old pupils to code. That love of technology has been golden during the lockdowns, as has his ability to teach. Helping members of the congregations unused to computers to fully engage with online offerings has proved an interesting challenge. But Jim’s patience won through and the church family has enjoyed a season of connectivity and flourishing of lay ministry during the pandemic.

The fruits of Jim’s labours, a Zoom morning prayer meeting in Redruth

Safeguarding and the desire to put something back into teaching

Safeguarding is a word that either has people rolling their eyes or letting them glaze over. But for Jim, it has huge significance. When on a school camp he was talking with one of the mothers, a child protection officer for Camborne, who shared some startling facts. “One in seven children experience abuse, from neglect to far worse, and in all my years of teaching I only ever picked up on a handful of cases. That spoke volumes to me.”

After Jim retired from teaching, he volunteered for the NASUWT, The Teacher’s Union, training as a case worker to help beleaguered teachers. “I loved being a teacher and wanted to give something back.” It also laid the foundation for Jim’s later work with safeguarding. Having that ability to listen, observe well and try to enable others to find solutions really helps when dealing with safeguarding. Jim went on to become a trainer in safeguarding for the diocese and hopes he has had an impact on the diocese approach to this very important issue.

Appalling liberalism, woolliness and grace

When asked what motivates him, Jim, who should perhaps be enjoying a more restful retirement, says, “ If you have an expertise and you actually have a knowledge of things and can be of help, you have a duty to do something with it.” And where does that duty come from? “Faith. And personality. I don’t think you can separate them. I’m appallingly liberal and woolly, I find it hard to reconcile the views of folk who are hard line at either end of the spectrum.”

Empathetic is probably a better description than woolly. Jim has a pre-disposition not to judge and to take the time to understand how best to enable people to help themselves, which requires patience and kindness. A life lived in service, educating and having the grace to be educated is what marks Jim Seth out to be nominated for the Cross of St Piran.