1st year Full time MTh Student

Elaine Pentland

My name is Elaine Pentland. I am 46 years old and have been married to my husband Sydney for 21 years. We have 3 children, 2 boys, Michael 18, Isaac 17 and Emma 8 years old. 

My education started at Down High School Downpatrick, completing my GCSE’s and A Levels at Methodist College Belfast. I continued my studies with a History degree at Queen’s University Belfast. After this I completed a diploma in Nursing Studies, nursing on the wards for 10 years and for the past 10 years working in ‘quality improvement’ and project management.

I cannot remember a time when I did not know Jesus as Saviour and as an extension of my love for him, have always felt most at home within his Church. I sense the pull to the path I am now following was a seed that was planted within me at a very early age. However, that seed really only started to make itself felt after I had children and I had been working for quite some time. I have described it as a pull on my heart, to give myself in service to his Church. 

One significant prayer I recorded in my diary in 2015 was that I desired to be known for my devotion to him, that I would discern his voice and leading, and that I wanted to see people I know personally come to be transformed by having an encounter and relationship with Jesus – I did not want to just read about it in books.

It is with this desire, many prayers and the guidance of Scripture I have put one foot in front of the other and tested this call on my life. It is by this process I have now found myself at CITI studying for the ordained ministry. I’m nervous and scared though I am content not to know where all this will lead, there is joy and anticipation in the journey.