Induction Service for Revd Canon Helen Cameron, the next Moderator of the Free Churches Group

We are inviting you to the induction Service for the Revd Helen Cameron, who will succeed Revd Dr Hugh Osgood.

It promises to be an inspiring service where we will formally receive the Revd Helen Cameron in her new role, spend time in worship, offer prayers, and hear from Revd Helen Cameron as she gives her first formal address as the Moderator. We will also take the opportunity to record our thanks to Revd Hugh Osgood for his service and dedication as the Moderator of the Free Churches Group over the last few years.

We hope that many of our people from across the Free Churches will join us, to share this special occasion. The Service of Induction will be held at 6.30 pm on Sunday 3rd April 2022, at Wesley’s Chapel, 49 City Road, London, EC1 1AU. Please register for this free event via Eventbrite HERE.

We look forward to seeing you, but please do contact Sabina Williams on email: sabina.williams@freechurches.org.uk if you have any questions.

Revd Paul Rochester

General Secretary of the Free Churches Group

If you’re tired and you know it, clap your hands

It is just over two years since the first patients to be treated for Covid-19 in England were admitted to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary. It wasn’t too many weeks before other hospitals were admitting their first patients and words like shielding, social-distancing and lockdown started to enter into our vocabulary.

Nobody knew what to expect at nor how long things might last. As cases began to rapidly rise, a metaphor that I sometimes heard was of being in a 100 metre sprint. Over time, as cases did not rise quite as sharply as initially thought, but nor did they rapidly drop off either, that metaphor changed to one of being less a sprint but more a 10km race. As cases began to rise again in the later part of 2020, the distance was upped again to that of a marathon. Two years on and we must now be in the territory of ultra-distance racing!

I recently asked health and social care chaplains to send me three words that sum up a little of how they are feeling. The vast majority included the word ‘tired’ or some related synonym. Experienced staff, both chaplains and those in other professions, talk about how they have never known anything like it. There have always been busy times, particular during winter, but they say that they feel like they have been responding to a major incident for the best part of two years. A colleague recently wrote about how they hated the description of the NHS working ‘tirelessly’ as it plays down the reality of how shattered people actually are.

Throughout the time of the pandemic, even though Covid pressures have risen and fallen, the pressure on staff has not. Each time Covid infection rates fall, there is the pressure to catch up with postponed operations, tests, appointments, etc. Patients are often coming into hospital, or seeing GPs, later than they might have done previously and consequently may have more complex medical, emotional and spiritual needs. Alongside the exhaustion, there are also high levels of anxiety, guilt, and moral injury. The danger of burnout is very real with some modelling suggest that there could be as many as one in six doctors and nurses off sick throughout 2022.

Chaplains are not immune to this, as the frequency of the choice of the word tired shows. However – to finish on a more uplifting note – many chaplains also included positive words such as hopeful, grateful and blessed. It is the privilege of health and social care chaplains to minister to a community of patients, visitors and staff who face some of the most profound human experiences. The good news of the gospel is that our exhausted and fragile reality is bound up with the nature of God, distinctively revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, who shared our weakness and vulnerability. In paying attention to the meanings and stories of people’s lives, hopes, beliefs and doubts we affirm the dignity and value of people, whatever their circumstances, and are a tangible reminder of a transcendent dimension to life.

Revd Dr. Mark Newitt

Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy

Note: This reflection is written for the Churches Together in England

Final report on progress to address COVID-19 health inequalities

Government Report from the Race Disparity Unit in the Cabinet Office on disparities in the risks and outcomes of COVID-19 for ethnic minority communities. The report has been praised for its robust analysis backed by £7 million of Government funding. It identifies the factors which have driven higher infection and mortality rates among ethnic minority groups. These factors are occupation, living with children in multigenerational households, living in densely populated urban areas with poor air quality and higher levels of deprivation. For more information, please visit here.

Faith leaders urge Priti Patel to scrap planned protest crackdown and warn of ‘chilling effect’ on religious expression

We’ve signed this joint letter to express concern about the #PolicingBill’s impact on faith & belief groups and marginalised communities.

We call on the government to rethink the bill and accept amendments on protest and trespass.

The full text of the letter and list of signatories is on the Police Bill Alliance website HERE.

The joint faiths and beliefs letter on the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill has now been featured in The Independent HERE.

A Day in the Life of a University Chaplain

A Day in the Life

The restaurant on campus is always a good place to meet people, students and staff. This morning over breakfast I chatted with a member of catering staff who told me she had just put in her resignation. We chatted about her reasons for leaving, about her loyalty and commitment to the university and about how leaving felt right, but how her decision was tinged with sorrow. Some of the changes made by the new catering company have not been easy for staff to manage. Going across to the main reception, there was opportunity for a brief chat with reception staff as I informed them I was expecting a visitor the following day: the local police community cohesion officer. All visitors’ names have to be recorded. The Chaplaincy Centre on campus is open every weekday from 9.00am; students were already making tea and coffee when I arrive; the large sofa is a good place to chat with students, one worrying about an imminent presentation, another is concerned as she felt too ill to go to her part-time job, another wanting to talk about how to balance the paid work she has to do to support herself and full time studies.

After lunch, it’s time for some preparation for the holding of a vigil on campus commemorating recent deaths in a terrorist attack overseas; firstly, getting the permission to use the very open public space at the entrance to the university and secondly, checking that no major university events were taking place which would mean it could be difficult to hold a vigil. As guests on campus, the chaplains are always in the position of having to negotiate on use of space and about events. Responses to the enquiries are all positive, so the next step is to talk with our part-time Muslim chaplain who comes onto campus every Tuesday; he is happy to change the time of his visit, so he can participate in the vigil as it’s important that the university Muslim community and the local Muslim community feel supported. The Chaplaincy Centre is busy today with students dropping in, between lectures, or hanging around because, for some, today is a ‘no lecture day’. It’s been said that the Chaplaincy Centre is a ‘home from home’, particularly for international students and those from the EU. The centre is cosy and warm; the Chaplaincy Assistant offers a welcome and hospitality and makes a cracking cup of Fairtrade coffee! At my desk, I have added the new Student Union CEO to the Fairtrade group and circulated proposed meeting dates for our next university Fairtrade meeting, a group I am privileged to chair. At its next meeting we will review Fairtrade Fortnight and start to plan, with the university environmental officer, for a spectacular Fairtrade Fortnight in 2020. Our Chaplaincy Assistant is off to do the shopping for the Global lunch which regularly takes place on Tuesdays in the Chaplaincy Centre.

Last task of the working day for me is to have a phone conversation with a former student who has created a Bedford branch of a mental health charity, originally founded by a current PhD student, on one of our other campuses. As vice chair of the Bedford branch, I have been standing in for her, as chair, while she cares for a close relative. One of our regular Chaplaincy volunteers is also a mentor for students and today she has used our space to see some of her student clients; it’s quiet, and away from the hustle and bustle of the main part of campus. Many of her clients also become regular visitors to the Chaplaincy Centre as they feel happy in a space where they can simply be themselves. The Scrabble board is out and so is Four in a Row, our late-night opening has become a games night! Revd Cass Howes, Methodist, Co-ordinating Chaplain (multifaith chaplaincy), University of Bedfordshire.

For more information about HE chaplaincy and the work the FCG are doing in this area:

What makes a good chaplain?
Higher education - Free Churches Group

Free Churches Group Higher Education Pray for your local universities and those from your congregation who are studying at university.
Reaching out to universities – a church resource for you!
Documents and Publications

Let us pray - Throughout the academic university year: Majestic God, as students aim higher and develop their God-given potential, give students firm foundations in your wisdom, rooted in your love and stability. We pray for the tutors and chaplains in universities - loving God, give them the wisdom, clarity and patience to support the students and staff with compassion. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen

A digital copy of this can be found here