• Business
  • Life
  • Celebrity
  • Sport
  • Blog
  • Auto
  • Tech
Stories from SWNS
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
Stories from SWNS
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Woman Has Become First Transgender Ordained Minister In The Methodist Church

Laura Elvin by Laura Elvin
November 21, 2017
in News
0
Woman Has Become First Transgender Ordained Minister In The Methodist Church

Canterbury Deacon Joy Everington.

0
SHARES
81
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A university chaplain has become the Methodist Church’s first transgender minister – after hiding her true identity for more than four decades.

Joy Everingham, 46, spent years secretly applying lipstick and wearing women’s clothes before finally coming out three years ago.

The mum-of-two from Canterbury, Kent, says she first knew she was different aged just five, and ‘didn’t fit in with everyone else’.

She said: “I wasn’t like the boys, I was always more like the girls.

“My dad used to joke ‘I’ve got three kids, one of each’, so I was obviously different – I couldn’t hide it.

“I went through my teenage years trying to be as boyish as possible.

“It always felt really disjointed, so I hid.

“If I’d admitted how I really felt at secondary school I think I would have been beaten with sticks.

“I’d put make-up on, put my mum’s shoes on.

“It was liberating, but at the same time I felt dirty, and I felt wrong.

“I felt like I was the only person in the world who was like that.”

Aged 15, Joy became a Christian, which she says was life-changing.

Four years later, she started dating her best friend of six years, Ruth, and the pair married when she was 22.

For eight years, Ruth was oblivious to the secret life her husband was living, unaware he was hiding clothes in the loft and continuing to dress as a woman.

But shortly after the birth of their first son, Joy, 27, travelled to Leeds on a secret trip to a transgender club, and it proved to be a defining moment in her journey.

She added: “It made me realise it wasn’t going to go away.

“I felt so at ease with myself. I felt normal.

“Coming back to the hotel that night I was thinking ‘I don’t want to take ‘me’ off’.

“I didn’t want to go back to being what I what was. I knew I had to tell Ruth.

“We were sitting in bed and said ‘I’ve got something to tell you’.

“I started crying and couldn’t breathe – it was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

“Ruth was convinced I was either having an affair, or I was gay, it was obviously a bit of a shock.

“I thought she was going to leave me, or kick me out, but she said ‘I’ve got to think about this’.”

Canterbury Deacon Joy Everington.

Much to Joy’s relief, Ruth was prepared to help her explore her identity, but she said she would leave if Joy transitioned.

After the birth of the couple’s second son in 2002, they decided Joy would live full-time as a man and all of her clothes were taken to a charity shop.

She became hugely depressed, and aged 45, Joy was referred to a gender clinic and diagnosed with gender dysphoria.

But despite doctors confirming what she always knew, the threat of Ruth leaving was very real, forcing Joy to continue to lock her true identity away.

Aged 41, she decided to become a minister with the Methodist Church, which had never ordained a transgender person.

After two years of training in Birmingham, Joy started work at St Peter’s Methodist Church in Canterbury, arriving in the September of 2014 and setting up home in Faversham.

The following month Radio 5 DJ Stephanie Hirst – then called Simon – revealed on air she was going to transition to a woman, which prompted Ruth’s acceptance of Joy’s feelings.

She told senior church leaders of her plan to transition, receiving their full support, before revealing it to her new congregation in a notice handed out before a service.

Joy began living as a woman full-time and 18 months ago started taking cross-sex hormones.

She said: “Ruth loves me for who I am, but she’s still attracted to men.

“I’m not sure she is really attracted to me sexually anymore, but we’re still in love and we’re still best friends.

“She still sees me as the same person, I just look a bit different.

“Transitioning has made our lives easier, it has become wonderfully normal.

“There have been times when it’s been difficult, but it’s actually made our marriage better, because I’m suddenly content with myself, and the struggle isn’t there anymore.

“But I’ve had people shout ‘freak’ at me in the street and I know people who have been beaten up in Canterbury just for walking home.

“It’s social ignorance and it’s usually trans women who get physically and verbally assaulted.

“There’s a long, long road ahead to turn the tide, but look at the gay rights movement.

“Over the last 50 years it’s become very acceptable in society, mostly, and it’s becoming that way with trans.

“Not everybody knows I’m trans, but I don’t hide it. I welcome people asking questions.”

Previous Post

Hero Pilot Takes Off From Burning Airport With A Plane Full Of Puppies

Next Post

UK SEO Consultant Reveals Why Technical SEO Should Not Be Forgotten

Laura Elvin

Laura Elvin

Next Post
UK SEO Consultant Reveals Why Technical SEO Should Not Be Forgotten

UK SEO Consultant Reveals Why Technical SEO Should Not Be Forgotten

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected test

  • 121 Followers
  • 60k Followers
  • 190k Subscribers
  • 23.8k Followers
  • 99 Subscribers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

March 5, 2014
The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

January 21, 2014
The horses thunder towards a jump at the Grand National

Amazing racehorse names which never made it

April 23, 2014
HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

January 14, 2019
Chris Fear, 33, outside the Coral betting shop which is refusing to pay out on his 485/1 winning bet

Boycott Coral! Bookmaker faces protest after refusing to pay out on a football fan’s 485/1 bet

184
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

147
Women feel invisible to the opposite sex at the age of 51, researchers found

Women begin feeling invisible to men ‘when they turn 51’

138
UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

105
Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

March 10, 2023
Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

March 8, 2023

Recent News

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

March 10, 2023
Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

March 8, 2023
SWNS

SWNS all rights reserved. Copyright 2020

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Auto
  • Blog
  • Business
  • Celebrity
  • Gaming
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Pictures
  • Property
  • Review
  • Sport
  • SWNS
  • Tech
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Recent News

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business
  • Life
  • Celebrity
  • Sport
  • Blog
  • Auto
  • Tech

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.