Healthcare

Free Churches Group, Health and Social Care Chaplains Study Day

Moral Injury, Staff Support and Looking After Ourselves

Free Churches Group, Health and Social Care Chaplains Study Day

27 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HH

Tuesday June 20th 10:30 to 15:30

Cost: £15 for chaplains whose denomination is a member of the Free Churches Group

 £25 for all other chaplains

Please register your place HERE.

09:45 doors open

10:30 to 11:15 Session one – Introduction to Moral Injury [Katie]

11:25 to 1210 Session two – Supporting Health and Social care staff to Navigate their way Through MI. [Diana]

12:10 to 13:05 Lunch (provided)

13:10 to 13:50 Session three – How we set up staff support work at G&ST [Tracy]

13:55 to 14:40 Session four – Sharing Good Practice [input from the panel and attendees]

15:00 to 15:30 Session five –Self-care and Creative Reflection [Bob]

15:30 cake and conversation for those who want to stay for a little bit extra

The focus of the day will very much be about lived experience rather than academic discussion. A well as the examples that the presenters will share we want to draw on the knowledge of those attending so please do think about examples of good practice from your context that you’d be happy to share in session four. If you have questions you’d like to ask both the presenter and those attending you can email them in advance to Mark at mark.newitt@freechurches.org.uk

A CPD certificate for 4 hours will be available at the end of the day.

Presenter Biographies

Tracy Morgan is originally from New Zealand. She trained as a health care chaplain in 2018 and works at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. First working in Paediatrics and acute adults, Tracy joined the dedicated staff support chaplaincy team that was formed in response to the Covid 19 pandemic in November 2021.

Diana Steadman worked in education and guidance before training in pastoral ministry at Spurgeon’s College. She is currently serving as Staff Wellbeing Chaplain at Kingston Hospital NHS Trust where from 2017 she has been establishing the role working alongside a Physiotherapist, Clinical Psychologist and Mind-Body Practitioner as part of an in-house Staff Wellbeing Team. Diana is now responsible for creatively supporting and advocating for the pastoral needs of staff within Unplanned Care, harnessing the tools of reflective practice, pastoral supervision, coaching and other development activities, and by reporting into divisional progress and Trust-wide steering group meetings.

Katie Watson is Head of Chaplaincy at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She has served there for 15 years. Prior to this she was a Military Police Officer in the British Army with operational experience in Bosnia and Croatia during the early 90s and Northern Ireland during the conflict. She runs ultra distance trails and does so that cake can be a major factor in her diet.

Bob Whorton is retired from Healthcare Chaplaincy but continues to work as a reflective supervisor. His interests are in creativity, writing, embodiment and the use of the imagination.

Note: If you are a Free Church Healthcare Chaplain, please contact Thandar at thandar.tun@freechurches.org.uk for a discounted price. The member denominations list is available to view here.

Photo by Dim Hou on Unsplash

Hello, I'm

Hello, I am Sarah Crane and I am Chair of the Steering group for Healthcare Chaplaincy. I am also the Head of Chaplaincy at Milton Keynes University hospital and have been part of the chaplaincy team here since 2014.

I sometimes find it hard to explain to people what exactly I do; today for example I’ve attended the morning safety huddle (where the site and each ward leader as well as others report on how they are and what’s going on) and a multi-disciplinary team meeting (MDT) where multiple professionals providing palliative care across Milton Keynes meet to discuss their shared patient load. I’ve sorted one funeral and taken another one. I’ve spent time with a student on a placement with our team reflecting on my experience of the process of death, having spent time with our bereavement team. I’ve spoken to members of staff, I’ve visited patients in different situations, I’ve prepped some training for new volunteers, supported a family to have a short memorial at the time of a loved one’s funeral service and, most impressively for me, I’ve managed to approve an invoice for payment for supervision for one of our team.

A big part of the reason I have been here for that long is that I absolutely love it. I love the place, the work, the people, and the variety of every day. I enjoy the pace, the juggle of prioritising and re-prioritising, and then the space sitting with another person trying to bring a sense of calm and attentiveness to whatever is causing them trouble. I love the stories: of travel and adventures, of love and friendship, of tenderness and silliness, and of difference and similarity. I love working with staff from so many diverse disciplines, understanding new things and being able to be a vocal supporter of sustainable working which enables the flourishing of our organisation and the people who make it.

Beyond my own organisation I am passionate about the developing role of chaplaincy as a profession across the health sector. We are seeing the voice of chaplains, and the understanding of chaplaincy as necessary expertise and support in pastoral, spiritual and religious care, growing in value across the health sector, driven by the work of excellent chaplains working across the length and breadth of the country. After nearly a decade in healthcare chaplaincy I can’t wait to see where the next decade takes us all!

Nourishing Roots - with Ruth Perrin, 31st Jan 2023, 10:00-16:00

Location: St Antony's Priory 74 Claypath Durham, DH1 1QT

Date: 31st Jan 2023, 10:00 - 16:00

Register your place HERE.

A day of reflection and spiritual refreshment for Free Church chaplains within the quiet and peaceful surrounds of St Antony's Priory, Durham. This day is part of our tri-annual 'Nourishing Roots' sessions where we seek to help refresh our spirits and have a time of retreat away from our busy ministries.

Our reflections will be led by Dr Ruth Perrin, an experienced minister, trainer, researcher and mentor; she has been exploring and encouraging faith development for two decades and is passionate about helping people to draw close to Jesus and explore their part in his kingdom plans.

A buffet lunch will be provided - please advise us of any dietary requirements in advance.

The day is free of charge, but there are only 15 spaces available due to the size of the meeting room. We will initially have tickets available for six prison chaplains, six hospital chaplains, and three education chaplains. Tickets may be made more widely available in weeks to come.

A Celebration of Chaplaincy, online event, 8th November, 7:30 - 8:30 pm

A Celebration of Chaplaincy with the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference

Affirming the great small things of chaplaincy through prayer, music and conversation

Register HERE before 31st October to receive your prayer pack for the event.

If you love chaplaincy then come and join us as we celebrate together. We’ll be hearing the stories of chaplains from many different sectors. There will be a chance to catch up with chaplains far and wide before being reaffirmed in this vital ministry and prayed for by the President and Vice President of the Methodist Conference.

The event will be taking place online. If you know of other chaplains local to you why not make this a shared experience by meeting together and joining the session as a group?

We would also like to send you a small gift as part of this event if you sign up before the 31st October and are happy to provide a postal address. You are still welcome to sign up after this date, although there will not be time to post anything to you.

The Methodist Church

A bit of Chaplaincy on the Side, a webinar exploring part-time chaplaincy

Monday 5th December from 18:30 to 20:00

Tickets are free and available from Eventbrite here.

Part-time chaplaincy roles come in many shapes and sizes. They may be:

  • inherited as part of a church posting

  • be carried out as a distinct role separate from church ministry

  • a role held alongside secular employment

Whether you are working part-time as a chaplain, would be interested in doing so, or know someone who should consider doing so(!) this webinar will explore how a part-time chaplaincy role can complement, inspire and inform other roles and areas of work and look at some of the pathways to becoming a chaplain.

With input from

  • The Revd Canon Helen Cameron: Chair of the Methodist Northampton District and Moderator of the Free Church Group

  • Gary Hopkins: Methodist Ministry Development Officer for Chaplaincy

  • Suzanne Nockels: Congregational Church Minister and Chaplain at Sheffield Children’s Hospital

  • Tas Cooper, Quaker Chaplain at Oxford University and a freelance Spanish to English translator

  • Bob Wilson: Secretary for Prison Chaplaincy and Free Churches Faith Advisor and chaplain at HMP Wayland

  • Mark Newitt: Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy and part of the chaplaincy teams at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and St Luke’s Hospice

The event flyer is available to download here.

Image by Gundula Vogel from Pixabay