Why I . . . work part time as a curate

Simon Atkins has two callings. For almost 25 years he has been working as a GP partner at Fishponds Family Practice in Bristol. And last year he was ordained as a deacon, and now works part time for the Church of England as a curate in Easton.

They are distinct vocations with different duties, yet require similar qualities—such as empathy and the ability to really listen. And both professions serve, and offer comfort to, their communities.

Atkins finds his dual roles of clinician and curate benefit each other. “Time in church gives me a chance to contemplate and reflect on what has happened in the GP surgery that week,” he says. “It gives me the opportunity to think about what’s important in life. And my faith helps me to get through the busy days and difficult situations.” He also brings the listening skills and non-judgmental approach he has honed as a clinician to supporting parishioners. “You see people who are vulnerable and you use what you’ve learnt as a GP to encourage them to seek help, and signpost them to support.”

Atkins wanted to be a doctor from a young age, having been inspired by “seeing what people could do to try and help others get better.” And from an early age he attended the local Baptist church with his family. “I grew up in a Christian family. I was baptised as a teenager. And I met my wife of the past 32 years, Nikki, at the church youth club.”

During visits home from university where he was studying for a science degree, he would take part in leading church services and would visit elderly members of the church. While at medical school he joined the Christian Medical Fellowship.

In 2000, when he joined a “traditional family practice,” his involvement in the church continued—with church talks to small groups on Sundays. In 2019, when the local vicar asked if he had ever thought about being ordained as a minister himself, he decided to put himself forward.

After local and national interviews, Atkins was accepted to study part time for a two year master’s in theology at Sarum College in Salisbury.

In July 2023 he was ordained. “It was a special service that was held in Bristol Cathedral. Those of us being ordained were robed in surplices and cassocks. It’s the first time you get to put on a clerical collar. My family and friends were there supporting me.”

As a curate, learning to be a vicar, Atkins serves his parish—a role that, as well as leading services and giving sermons, also involves helping his diverse local community, including asylum seekers and people who are homeless.

He spends the first half of his week working as a GP, and the rest as a curate. “You have to be good at time management,” he says. Being a doctor and curate can mean having a doubly positive impact on the community. “But you have to have boundaries. One job could blur into another and take over, and vice versa,” he says.

He recalls his first visit as a curate to a patient in hospital. “It was important to remember that I was there to represent the church community and not there as a clinician.” In his medical role he does not discuss faith with his patients. “And likewise, I’m determined not to be drawn into regularly giving medical advice to people in the parish,” Atkins says.

Next year he hopes to be ordained as a priest, and will also be officiating at his son’s wedding—“a wonderful thing to be able to take part in, and a benefit of the role I hadn’t foreseen.”

As with general practice, being a curate means expecting the unexpected. Once, while walking through a busy underpass in the centre of Bristol, someone asked Atkins if he would pray for them. “We prayed. They thanked me, and we wished each other a good evening. It was just an ordinary human interaction, but it was also an extraordinary human interaction, which you wouldn’t expect in that place, at that time. It was something special.”