Contributed photos
LEFT: Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the first black woman appointed Queen's chaplain.
RIGHT: Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin poses with the Rt Rev Dr Alfred Reid, Bishop of Jamaica, at the church where she 'grew up' - St Francis Mission, Glendevon, Montego Bay.
Trudy Simpson, Outlook Writer
When Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin was 14 years old, she had a dream. All the particulars weren't clear but she remembered hearing her teenage self cry out, 'Praise the Lord. Thank you Jesus!"
Jerked out of her sleep, she grabbed her Bible, opened it and a random spin brought her to Luke chapter 4. Her eyes hit verse 18, which said: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."
Calmed by the reading, she closed the Bible without marking the page and went back to sleep.
The next morning she woke up and opened the Bible with another random spin. It took her back to the same verse. "Reading it, I thought, 'God are you trying to tell me something'?" she told Outlook recently.
Turned out, God was.
More than 30 years later, Reverend Hudson-Wilkin is a well-known Anglican priest and Vicar at Holy Trinity, Dalston, and All Saints, in London.
Becoming a female priest had not been easy.
She recalled coming up against conservative male attitudes in the church after her marriage and the birth of her first child.
"When I tried to pursue ordination, they were basically dismissive. They didn't encourage me. The attitude at the time was one of 'you ought to be at home looking after your child'. But God was brilliant. The call never went away."
The law soon changed and she broke new ground, becoming one of the first women to become a priest.
True to the dream she had as a teenager, Reverend Hudson-Wilkin spends her time preaching the word of God and helping to make lives better for many in the London borough of Hackney, which suffers low earnings, high unemployment, high single parenthood and high crime rates.
In the 30-plus years which have passed, she has also become a high-ranking member of the Church of England General Synod, is currently Chair of the National Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, which aims to increase the number of ethnic minorities in leadership roles, and has served on several committees, including the Worldwide Committee of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the former Broadcasting Standards Commission.
"I love what I do," said the Reverend, who recently received another great honour - being appointed the first black chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II.
This makes her one of only 36 religious leaders who are invited to officiate and preach, on occasions, at the 400-year-old Queen's Chapel beside St. James' Palace.
"I was called and told and I remember thinking at first, are you serious? Just to check whether my hearing was OK, I did ask, are you sure? He said yes," she told Outlook with a laugh. "It is a real honour, a recognition of not only my own ministry but of the people I serve in East London. I feel really proud," added the Reverend, who first came to the UK on a church training programme in 1979.
Ethnic minorities
She continued: "I felt I had to accept it because in many areas, the church would be at a loss if it were not for ethnic minorities. I felt I was accepting it on their behalf. I am sure Her Majesty is intuitive. I am sure she has recognised that the church has changed and is more multi-ethnic."
Reverend Hudson-Wilkin said being appointed the Queen's chaplain and making history was something she would never have imagined when she first came to England, or all those years ago when she was a girl growing up in the church in Glendevon, St James, Jamaica.
Back then, she and her sister lived with their father and aunt, Pet. Her mother had left for England when she was born and although she heard from her mum, the two never met again until she was age nine.
She said her mum's absence didn't bother her. "It was not strange because there were many other children whose parents had left to come to England. Sure, she wrote and I remembered pretty dresses and cardigans but you learn to accept the situation. Besides, there were plenty of other folks I looked to, who were great mother and father figures, and there are still two women I refer to as mum," she said.
Reverend Hudson-Wilkin told Outlook that growing up in Jamaica around caring role models, such as her 'adopted mum', Faye Jolly-McCalla, and local father figure and church lay reader, the late Horace Whittingham, helped her develop her passion.
"I adopted her (Jolly-McCalla) because she had all the qualities of a mother. I also had someone who I related to as an adopted dad, a very caring individual and a father figure to many in his local community, Horace Whittingham. I believe that with their input, individuals like myself could grow and flourish in confidence. This does not negate the work of blood relatives, it just underlines the importance of the community working together for the benefit of the whole," she said.
Adult vocation
Growing up, Reverend Hudson-Wilkin also remembered how at her local church, she and other youth were given Bible reading and other duties, such as organising church services. She said the duties prepared her well for her adult vocation, which began after she entered the Church Army in Jamaica. At that time, there were hardly any women but she was not fazed. "I didn't say 'Rose, don't be silly. They don't have women here. They are all men.' I felt I needed to be faithful to what God was telling me."
It was a good thing she did go, because she not only started her journey but she met her husband, Kenneth, who is chaplain to Holloway women's prison in London. They have three children and will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in April.
She has grounded her children in God and is encouraging other parents to do the same.
She has also been very outspoken about the need for communities to become involved in raising children, especially because she believes British law often does not allow parents enough freedom to discipline their children. She praised Jamaica for enabling that when she was growing up.
She said: "Today in Britain that is what we need - adults like Mrs Jolly-McCalla and Horace Whittingham, who are not selfish but who are willing to give of themselves in caring for all the children in the community."
This is a message she plans to maintain when she faces a very different audience, notably mostly white and more privileged, as Queen's chaplain.
Create awareness
"I don't intend to change my preaching style. I will bring with me all that I am and where I am coming from into that chapel so, hopefully, I will create awareness. We cannot pretend that because we don't live in a place we don't care what happens there. We have to care because even if we live in the lap of luxury, whatever happens impacts on all of us. With all the murders of young people (30 young men stabbed and shot to death in London last year and six so far this year), you cannot say it is not your child; that you have your child at home. It will visit you. Hooliganism knows no boundaries," she said.
She said the church must focus on what matters, such as saving young lives rather than focus so much on what they deem sexual sins, among them homosexuality.
" Many of us seem to have a hang-up on sexual sins, but if you look in the New Testament, Jesus spends very little time on these things. He speaks about love and caring for the vulnerable. There are much more important problems to be concerned about. This is where our prayers should be and our attention should be directed to what we can do."
Reverend Hudson-Wilkin, who recently visited Jamaica with Bishop of York, John Sentamu, practises looking after the vulnerable in her busy daily life, and she looks back on her life with satisfaction.
"I like dealing with people. I am fulfilled (so) I am very naughty when it comes to taking time off," she remarked, with another laugh.
When she does get free time, she spends it doing some of her favourite things, such as being with her family. "I also love cooking, travelling and playing scrabble. I love playing and watching tennis. One of my dreams would be to go and see a live tennis match at Wimbledon," she said.
