Free Churches Group Health and Social Care Chaplains Study Day

There is a Crack in Everything: reflecting on grief, trauma and resilience in light of chaplain’s experience during the pandemic.

This Study Day will provide chaplains with an understandings of recent developments in the theory related to these themes as well as offering the opportunity to reflect on their experiences through the pandemic. With input from Nigel Fawcett-Jones, Pete English and a specially recorded poetry set from Harry Baker.

Cost:

• £6 for chaplains who belong to a denomination/organisation that is a member of the Free Churches Group

• £18 for all other chaplains

Date: Thu, 4 November 2021, 08:45 - 16:30

Programme

08:45 – digital doors open

09:15 – 09:45 welcome, introduction and opening prayer/reflection

09:45 – 11:00 session one – Grief (Pete English)

11:15 – 12:30 session two – Trauma (Nigel Fawcett-Jones)

Lunch –links will be provided for those who would like to chat over lunch with others

13:30 – 14:00 session three – recorded poetry set from Harry Baker

14:15 – 15:30 session four – Resilience (Nigel Fawcett-Jones)

15:45 – 16:30 Plenary followed by closing prayer/reflection

Speakers

Nigel Fawcett-Jones

Prior to his retirement in 2019 Nigel served 30 years as a police officer with West Yorkshire Police. His experience in his specialised role of Roads Policing saw him develop additional responsibilities as Road Death Family Liaison Officer, Casualty Bureau and Road Death Senior Investigation Officer. He also completed a post graduate diploma in Disaster Victim Identification at the University of Dundee.

Nigel works as a Chaplain Manager for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association which provides crisis trained chaplains who respond to community crises. He and his team have provided chaplain support to the church response at events as diverse as terrorist incidents (Westminster, London Bridge, Manchester), the Grenfell Tower fire and numerous flooding events across the UK. Internationally, Nigel has worked in a chaplain role in Haiti in response to the cholera outbreak, wildfires in the US and terrorism in Belgium.

Since 2019 Nigel has fulfilled the role of Chaplain within the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, Major Collision Enquiry Team and Counter Terrorism Unit. He has also developed training resources for the broader chaplain team of West Yorkshire Police.

Pete English

Pete has worked as a church youth worker & school counsellor for over 25 years. He is project lead for ListeningPeople - from AtaLoss.org. He counsels children and young people in 5 schools in the West Midlands and provides training and support to those who work with young people impacted by loss and bereavement.

Harry Baker

World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker published his debut anthology ‘The Sunshine Kid’ with Burning Eye in December 2014. The subsequent show of the same name was voted ‘Best Spoken Word show’ of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015. Now a fully-fledged maths graduate and full time poet, His work has been shared on TED.com and viewed millions of times worldwide, as well as being translated into 21 different languages.

(cover photo courtesy of Aaron Lee at Unsplash)

World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10th

On Friday 10th September it will be World Suicide Prevention Day.

Our Free Churches Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy, Revd Dr Mark Newitt, shares some helpful reflections on this difficult matter:

“Over the course of someone’s lifetime, 1 in 5 people have suicidal thoughts and 1 in 15 people attempt suicide. That may not sound like a lot, but a statistic that shocked me was that every two hours in the UK a man takes his own life. In fact, in the UK, suicide is the highest cause of death among men under the age 45. While women are more likely to have suicidal thoughts and make suicide attempts than men, men are 3 times more likely to take their own life than women.

The British Psychological Society suggests that one reason suicide rates are lower among women is that they are able to manage complex emotions, have more flexible coping strategies and, perhaps most importantly, are more likely to ask for help or express depressive or suicidal feelings,” writes Mark.

Mark goes on to say, “In the era of Covid-19, with all the uncertainty and anxiety it has brought, it’s more important than ever that we’re there for each other as well as looking after our own mental health.

You don’t need special training to have an open, authentic conversation about mental health. Being honest about our own feelings and vulnerabilities, and simply listening without judgement when someone is open with us, are important first steps.

If you would like more information around mental health generally, the charity Mind provides a wealth of resources, as does the NHS Every Mind Matters website.

For resources relating particularly to suicide prevention, supporting those who have been bereaved due to suicide, and using appropriate language around suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Alliance has links to national and local organisations. In Addition, I recently came across the Campaign Against Living Miserably website, which has lots of helpful information and guidance.”

(Cover photo courtesy of Kristina Tripkovic at Unsplash)

'ORGAN DONATION WEEK' COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER

A couple of years ago Free Churches Group, working with the Blood Transfusion and Organ donation services, facilitated a one day conference with our member churches and groups. This was a useful event to help us to raise the profile and importance of these services, particularly for our churches who have members from Black, Asian and other ethnic communities. We would like to continue to encourage more blood and organ donors from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to come forward to meet the needs of patients from across our communities. Certain conditions, such as sickle cell and thalassaemia, are more prevalent within these communities.

We would like to share with you news of Organ Donation Week which is coming up in September.

This is an awareness raising week from 20th - 26th September with a theme this year of: ‘Leave Them Certain’. This campaign aims to encourage people to talk to their loved ones about organ donation through highlighting that families are always involved before organ donation goes ahead.

Find out further information about this year’s campaign and how you, your churches and your families can get involved in the discussions about this vital issue.

ORGAN DONATION WEEK

(cover photo courtesy of DESIGNECOLOGIST at Unsplash)

Thanksgiving service for the NHS...

You may have spotted in wider press coverage that there was a thanksgiving event at St Paul’s Cathedral on 5th July, for the NHS. Although numbers were limited at the event, we are pleased to be able to share with you here some of the reflections from and about the service. Among those who were able to attend was the General Secretary of Free Churches Group, Revd Paul Rochester (pictured below); our very own Revd Dr Mark Newitt took some time to reflect on the vital role of chaplaincy work in the care sector during the pandemic - there is a recording of this which you can watch through the link below.

“At St Paul’s for the NHS’ 73rd birthday - an event which offers us all a chance to say a Big Thank You. The NHS, and the country as a whole, has been through a year like no other, because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, we can proud of the NHS, which at the same time as caring for people with COVID, rolled out the biggest vaccination programme in health service history. We are grateful for the dedication and professionalism of NHS staff.”

— says Revd Paul Rochester

Prior to the service, Mark joined with Rev Sarah Crane, as they talked to Dave Piper (TWR) about the chaplaincy work in the care sector during the pandemic – and how being aware of our own mortality can help turn our thoughts to God. You can watch a recording of this conversation below:

TWR (Trans World Radio) is a multimedia organisation, assisting the global church to fulfil the command of Jesus Christ to make disciples of all people. Our UK channel seeks to equip Christians to be effective disciples of Jesus in our complex twenty-first century world.

(cover photo by Revd Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer, taken on 5th July, a rainbow pedestrian crossing near Gloucester Cathedral)

Health Care Chaplains study conference - coming up on 6-7th October

2021 College of Health Care Chaplains (CHCC) Annual Study Conference
October 6th 13:00-16:00 and October 7th 9:30-12:30

Coming up in the autumn - save the date!

The CHCC conference this year will have the theme “What does good look like?” - taking stock of what we have learnt in recent years and looking to the future together.

More details will follow, but it will be online and booking will be via Eventbrite and will be open from September.

(cover photo courtesy of Nathan Lemon at Unsplash)