Destiny's child is Fired Up!

REVD Joanna Jepson, right, hit the headlines four years ago, with her brave, controversial stance on abortion. Her ministry since has focused on the value of human life. Ahead of her Southend speaking
engagement at St John's, Pier Hill on March 8 (7.30pm- 9.30pm), JOHN CHEEK profiles arguably the most engaging clergywoman since the Vicar of Dibley.

"I USED to pray to God to give me a different face . . ." Joanna Jepson might not appear to be your classic,stereotypical disability-rights campaigner. Minus her dog-collar, many probably wouldn't number her among the ranks of the clergy.

There's little in her off-duty image to suggest where she's at . . . or the journey she's taken. But motivated by a prophet-like concern about injustice and a Ruth-like loyalty to those 'left behind' in life, she's a most-modern Anglican.

She took legal action in 2003 against West Mercia Police following the case of the termination of an unborn child with a cleft palate. This resulted in the topic of abortion returning to the public domain.

Initially garnering some inevitable hostility, she was quickly identified as also being a long way from the ‘stereotypical' anti-abortionist.

Like the baby tragically central to the controversy, Joanne had a cleft-lip or palate, which got worse as she grew older. Although unsuccessful in her legal action, it highlighted how corrective surgery, when she was 19, was all that stood between the defect and ‘normal' living. As a teenager,
Joanna was bullied due to her facial abnormality - first at school and later, amazingly, by a fellow trainee nurse. It led to a career change.

Now Chaplain to the London College of Fashion, an appointment endorsed by shoe designer / entrepreneur Jimmy Choo no less, she appears in Southend at the inter-church Fired Up! event.

She'll speak from a theological and personal perspective about the worth of human life:
"While there are those who wonder why on earth a fashion college needs a priest, to me the work of designing and creating new works of beauty and interest is a divine gift, a vocation which allows people to participate in the ongoing recreation of our world . . . "

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