Archdeacon Samantha Brazier-Gibbs sits in her new office, reflecting on the journey that brought her here. It's a story that begins in chaos, moves through profound loss, and finds its turning point in an extraordinary moment of divine timing – or remarkable coincidence, depending on your perspective.
"I remember thinking my only safety in the world has gone," she says of the moment her father died when she was 13, just six months after his cancer diagnosis.
For the girl who had grown up feeling unsafe in her North West London home, her father's death was devastating. Years later, at university, another tragedy struck when her mother attempted to take her own life and passed away.
Samantha found herself in a dark place, contemplating the same fate.
A voice on the airwaves
What happened next would alter the course of her life entirely.
She turned the radio on. Premier Christian Radio came on the airwaves with a caller saying something that seemed impossibly specific: "God has told us there's a young woman out there who doesn't want to live, but Jesus says I have a plan and purpose for your life."
Soon after, a friend invited her to St Michael's Church in Harrow. The moment she walked through the doors, something shifted.
"My heart exploded and I knew I was home and that I was safe," she recalls. "God saved me – and the church gave me a family and purpose. It sounds cliché but it's true."
From youth worker to archdeacon
That moment of finding safety sparked a calling that has shaped the past two decades of Samantha's life.
She started working as a Christian youth worker before attending Ridley Hall in Cambridge to study theology. After being ordained, she took posts in Newhall, Harlow and later in Chipping Ongar, spending more than 20 years as a parish priest.
In 2015, she moved to Blackmore and Stondon Massey, staying as the incumbent for 10 years. St Nicholas Church in Fyfield was later added to her care, where she became the Mission and Ministry Unit Leader across 17 churches.
But Samantha had been thinking about how to use her skills in a more strategic way, to impact more people. When the archdeacon role in Suffolk became available, she applied.
Coming home to Suffolk
Suffolk wasn't unfamiliar territory. "We used to go on holiday when I was young to Kessingland every year, so I know the Suffolk coast quite well," she explains. "I have always loved Suffolk, there's something about the big skies, the coast and the countryside here."
Starting her new position in July, taking over from Archdeacon Rhiannon King who left to become the Bishop of Southampton, Samantha admits she had one significant worry.
"I've been a parish priest for more than 20 years and was a bit worried that with becoming an archdeacon I wouldn't have a flock to love and encourage," she says.
That concern proved unfounded.
"But actually one of the great privileges is that the ministers of the Archdeaconry and the people of Ipswich became my flock," she explains. "I also get the privilege of sitting at top-table discussions about vision, mission, strategy and about how the church in this diocese is shaped, what we do to lift Jesus high and how we love the people who are charged to our care."
Finding her place
The transition has exceeded her expectations. "I go through most days with a massive grin on my face. I just love the job," she says. "The clergy in Ipswich are an absolute joy, and the Diocesan staff have been so welcoming."
For someone whose early life was marked by feeling unsafe, creating spaces of belonging has become central to her ministry. She speaks of an exciting time for the Church of England in Suffolk, with a vision for bringing church communities together across the county.
"I was told something years ago that has stuck with me – 'we want unity not uniformity,'" she reflects. "With some kindness and compassion, some gentleness and a bundle of grace we can all be part of a wider church community."
It's an approach rooted in her own experience of being shown grace at her lowest point – when a voice on the radio offered hope to a young woman who thought she had none left.
The bottom line
From a childhood marked by trauma to leading clergy across Ipswich, Samantha's journey shows how moments of profound darkness can transform into purpose. That radio message didn't just save her life – it set in motion a calling that now shapes how she serves others seeking safety, belonging and hope.
For and its church communities, visit www.cofesuffolk.org
