Drilling home message about ministering!

Christine Orr shares how her roles as a dentist and assistant pastor work hand in hand to serve both her patients and her church.

Christine, can you start by telling us about your day job?
I work as a dentist three days a week – Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, predominantly for the NHS.

You’re also in the second year of your MiT. What do you do there?
My main role at church is discipleship coordinator where I run things like Alpha, our First Steps course for new believers and our Firm Foundations course for members. I also preach every four to six weeks, help with cell groups and do pastoral visiting.

Time-wise, how does your MiT fit around your job as a dentist?
Mondays and Tuesdays are dedicated to church, along with Sundays and a fair amount of Saturdays. It’s quite hard balancing getting everything done!

Did you go into your MiT with this work pattern in mind?
I actually started dropping down my dentistry days over ten years ago when I did a distance learning theology course. I dropped a day and dedicated that to church. I was given several prophecies that the direction of my life was going to change, then Covid made me rethink things – it was a horrible time for dentists. I decided to drop to three days a week and focus more on my church work. Then I sensed God calling me to become an MiT. I always planned to work bi-vocationally because I’d worked hard at dentistry and didn’t want to give it up altogether. Also, I don’t take a wage from church so dentistry pays for me to be in ministry.

What do you enjoy most about dentistry?
Every day is different. Dentistry can be very challenging. NHS dentistry is fast-paced and there is a bit of a thrill about it. I enjoy building relationships with patients and helping them overcome their dental anxiety. It is rewarding to be able to get people out of pain and improve their smiles.

And how about your MiT?
It’s similar – it’s helping people. My passion is discipleship; seeing people move from having no faith to becoming active members of church who are filled with hope and joy.

What do you enjoy about doing both jobs together?
The combination gives me the best of both worlds. They’re very rewarding jobs and I like doing both. Sometimes if you work full-time in church you can lose non-Christian contacts. Working in the dental practice gives me the chance to talk to non-Christians.

Do you ever get to share your faith?
I never push it in people’s faces but it’s surprising what questions they ask. Recently one girl I work with asked if she could come to church, then became a Christian about six weeks ago. That was amazing! My receptionist as well – she started coming and became a Christian too. With my patients I’m careful, but if people ask why I only work three days a week it’s a good chance to tell them what I do.

What’s your plan for when you finish your MiT?
Possibly I’ll drop to two days a week as a dentist and focus a little more on ministry. But I’ll wait and see what God’s plans are because they’re often quite different from ours!

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.