NEWS
Dying Matters Awareness Week begins today...
The Dying Matters Awareness Week begins today and runs through until 17th of May.
The theme is -
"Talking about dying and death is the last taboo. People who are dying can feel very isolated,” reports Revd Meg Burton, the Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy for Free Churches. Meg goes on to say that…” Often, when people do want to talk, their relatives don't, because they find it too hard to accept that their loved one is dying. This Awareness Week is looking at dying from the dying person's perspective and will give ideas for people to help encourage conversations."
You can find out more about the work of Dying Matters during this week of action and reflection, dedicated to raise awareness HERE.
Dying Matters is led by Hospice UK and aims to raise awareness of dying, death and bereavement. Dying matters… End of Life care, for those who are dying, their relatives/carers and staff, is one of the core activities for healthcare chaplains. FCG hosted the round-table discussion concerning end of life care and they were very well received.
Our FCG Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy, Meg, has gathered, compiled and share all sorts of resources linked to ministry in healthcare settings and at end of life. You can read these HERE.
(photo by Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer)
"Coffee and Cake - get together 4pm" each Friday for school and college chaplains
The pattern of meetings and our ability to get together in person has changed much over the last few weeks. - so we are pleased to share that the Centre for Chaplaincy in Education are be hosting a ‘Coffee and Cake’ chaplains’ chat each Friday at 4pm.
Friday Coffee 'n' Cake (bring your own!) for Chaplains in Schools and Colleges 8th May 2020
Every Friday for the foreseeable future, Maggie Everett, the Centre’s Lead Development Officer, will be hosting a ‘coffee and cake’ hour on Zoom, for all chaplains in schools and colleges. Come and join in with others, (sorry you will need to bring your own coffee and cake!) and have a chat about what’s happening with you, your community/ies and the wider world. Invitation:
Topic: Coffee and Cake
Meeting ID: 829 0639 4114
Password: 780537
Sarah Lane Cawte, our Free Church Education Officer, has been working closely with this group and other partners over recent months and there are some exciting developments in the field of chaplaincy in education which you can read about here.
(photo courtesy of Melissa, a 15 year old Gateway college student)
Some helpful reflections and poems for life and in death, for ministry and communities
Revd Meg Burton, Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy for the Free Churches, has been writing, gathering in, compiling and sharing a range of supportive and informative communications with Healthcare Chaplains. Although these are primarily aimed at those working in healthcare chaplaincy, many others may find the content encouraging and helpful in their life and ministry.
You can find out more and explore these resources and materials HERE.
These will be updated on a weekly basis.
Content so far includes:
Words of comfort at end of life: end of life readings and blessings.
A reflection from the Chaplaincy Team: Edges.
Funeral at home.
Sunday night Vigil.
Prayers at the close of life.
Act of Commemoration: An invitation for each Thursday at 1pm.
Funeral service for a baby.
Chaplaincy reflections - must we go in? by Simon Harrison, President of College of Healthcare Chaplains
A Hospital Beatitude: a poem
I am a piece of heaven: a poem
We have to be candles: a poem
Lockdown Psalm
These can all be downloaded and shared HERE.
(cover photo courtesy of a young person who was in a hospital school)
Continuing to serve our member churches and groups....
In these unusual and unsettled times, very little has stayed the same… some things may have changed for the better, we might think, and some things have become really challenging and tough… one thing that has continued, despite it all, is the Free Churches team continuing to work for and on behalf of our member churches and with our wider networks. The way we work might have changed, via Zoom, Skype, phone etc… but we meet to carry on with our work for and with you, our members…
Since the beginning of the year, because of the geographical distances between our team members, we had set up a Zoom platform to meet up on line every Tuesday morning. These have become even more important in recent weeks, as travel and face to face meetings have not been possible. The Free Churches Group team continue to meet online, to pray together, to review our work in prisons and healthcare chaplaincy and education. We will continue to find ways we can serve our member churches in these challenging times. Our team members have been busy, working from home and meeting up with colleagues and our wider partners (remotely); recent meetings have been on the following topics:
Department for Education: Schools with a Religious Character / Faith Schools
Act of Commemoration by Community and Mental Health Chaplains
and many more….
Please pray for our team, as we continue to pray for your churches and networks.
May our work together continue to be a blessing to those we seek to serve, in God’s name.
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Team meeting photo May 4th 2020 below. Cover photo courtesy of Jesus Kiteque at Unsplash.
Being helpful... ?
Many of us often might feel as if we are helpful in one way or another. We may be good at calling in on elderly neighbours or clearing the table after a big family meal… some of the ways in which we may have been able to be helpful in the past has changed in recent months because of the pandemic. Have you mourned the loss of ways in which you used to be helpful? Have you been able to find new or different ways of being helpful? Perhaps we’re seeing things very differently and have the courage to explore new horizons? I have been sad that I have not been able to visit the churches I support in my other role with the FCG member church group, The Congregational Federation (CF), so, at the start of the lockdown, I started a daily prayer for each of these churches, along setting up a pastoral network to have phone calls with their ministers - from A-Z!… Abertillery Tabernacle to Zion Miners, Llanhilleth… I hope and pray that the churches have appreciated this help, even though a visit can’t take place at the moment.
The Oxfordshire based Christian charity, BeSpace, has produced a series of really inspiring and helpful (!) resources for parents, carers, guardians and adults to explore with children in their household / in their care.
There is one on the theme in question!
BeHelpful: BeSpace activities to bring a sense of peace and calm to your life…
The worksheet says: “Christians believe that we are called to be helpful to others around us.We can help people practically by meeting their needs as well as praying for them. They also believe that when we are in trouble or worried about something we can ask God to help us and that He helps us in our time of need.”
By way of background for FCG: As part of our partnership work for the Free Church Education Committee, we are members of the Pray for Schools network, working alongside lots of other dynamic and engaged Christian organisations. One of the other groups who are also on the Pray for Schools network is BeSpace… BeSpace is a Christian charity who encourages churches to work together to see prayer and reflection spaces happening in all areas of the community. Their vision to see every child, young person and adult connect with God in their daily lives from the school into the home.
(photo courtesy of Melissa, a 15 year old Gateway college student)
Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer