Reflections from Revd Bob Wilson, Secretary for the Prison Chaplaincy & Free Churches Faith Advisor

Christmas is …

What words come to mind to you when someone says this? “For the children”, “Too expensive”, “So commercialised”? Or maybe some more positive remarks, “a time for family”, “a time of peace”, or “a time of giving”. I would say that the most common one I hear in prison is “hard”!

Christmas, the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus as a baby, to Mary and Joseph, in temporary accommodation, in an occupied country, is a wonderful time, but it can be a hard time. It is hard to remember what we don’t have, what we have lost, where we would rather be. All true for Mary and Joseph, and maybe true for us too. Many of us will have lost friends, family, maybe our liberty this year.

But “To us a child is born, to us a son is given” and that birth was unlike any other birth in the history. The child born is the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Saviour of the world. A birth that will change time itself. Not a birth that turns back time, but a birth that gives us hope that time is no longer our enemy; neither hard times, nor good times. We no longer need to see the hands of time as a countdown to be feared, but we see that today, this is the time for life.

Christmas, above everything, is a time for change. A change that God can bring, a change that will bring a whole new order in our lives, a change to how we see everything.

Our Prison Chaplains this year will see many who are struggling in their lives to see beyond the gloom and darkness that is real and everywhere. They will be encouraging thousands of men, women and children to take a little time to pray, a little time to look for and at the Christ child. Maybe we all need to do this anew. Pray as I alone know how to pray, in my own words. Pray that the God who gave us the gift of a saviour at Christmas will step into my life again to lighten the darkness, to scatter the gloom. Maybe we can pray, along with our chaplains, our prisoners, our brothers and sisters that, just as a child was born to Mary, something new and life-changing might be born in our lives this year.

Or maybe just pray that, while Christmas will be hard, you will be able to see a way through to the other side!

And maybe then, rethink the ending to the sentence …

Christmas is …

A happy and peaceful Christmas to everyone

Revd Bob Wilson

Free Churches Faith Advisor to HMPPS

Reflections from Revd Sarah Crane, Healthcare Chaplaincy Steering Committee

Like many of us I am a bit surprised to find myself in December. This year has gone so quickly!

The Healthcare Chaplaincy Steering Committee (HCSC) sits under the Free Churches Group (FCG) Board and is responsible for supporting and shaping the work of Revd Dr Mark Newitt, Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy at FCG.

For the Healthcare Chaplaincy Steering Committee it has been a really full and positive year. We have welcomed a number of new members to the group, Linford Davis and Terry Bentley, both bringing a wealth of experience within healthcare and social care chaplaincy as well, as a broader perspective from other denominations within FCG. Our goal is to as representative as possible of the breadth of our member denominations so we are delighted to have made these appointments. This year we also said a big thank you to Mark Burleigh and Kate Le Sueur, who stood down at the end of their respective terms.

As always in 2024 we have been grateful to Mark for his passion and enthusiasm for the support and development of healthcare chaplains within the FCG and beyond. Through the year, either individual or in partnership with others the FCG has offered:

• Our Annual Study Day in June exploring being on the margins through art, research and story.

• Three Nourishing Roots days shared with chaplains from other contexts providing space to meet and reflect together on our spiritual wellbeing.

• Monthly Pop-Up Reflective Practice providing hour-long sessions for chaplains to come together and reflect on their practice.

• A monthly Research First Journal Club building research literacy through critiquing a recent journal article.

• the Narrative newsletter, and information digest which goes out monthly to more than 600 chaplains within the FCG and beyond.

We are also very pleased to see more members of the committee representing healthcare chaplaincy in other places. Janelle Kingham, Mark Newitt and I have all become directors of the UKBHC in the past six months. (Janelle has also become Vice Chair of the Network for Pastoral, Spiritual and Religious Care in Health.) It is good to know that Free Church healthcare chaplaincy is part of the broader work and conversations which take place across the four nations of the UK and within the representative bodies and other stakeholders.

We look forward to the year ahead in confidence of being able to continue to support chaplains and to influence practice in ways which promote public safety, professionalism, and person-centred care within all healthcare chaplaincy contexts.

Just as chaplaincy requires us to sit with faltering and stilted humanity in moments of raw struggle and real human experience, may we this Advent and Christmas know that the child in the manger comes to do the same for us. As we prepare for Jesus’ coming, we can hold fast to the promises of the Kingdom of God, both now and in all its fullness.

Sarah Crane

Chair, Healthcare Chaplaincy Steering Committee

The First CoNNECT Day

Cover image from fauxels - Photography

Chaplaincy: opportunity for Networking, Nurturing, Encouragement and Community Together

Date: 13th February 2025, 10:30 - 16:00

Venue: Free Churches House, 27 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HH

Cost  £30 per participant to cover the cost of a light lunch/refreshments and administrative costs.

As part of the development of our  “Chaplaincy Hub”, which we hope to grow into a key resource space for those engaged in or exploring chaplaincy this first CoNNECT Day aims to draw together those with an interest in the development of chaplaincy from different settings and perspectives, including church and denominational leaders, suppliers of chaplaincy training and education as well as providers of chaplaincy services (particularly those beyond traditional settings).

The day will include a keynote address from Mark Birch, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, input exploring evidencing impact, opportunity to hear stories of chaplains (Pecha Kucha presentations) as well as space to network.

 Timetable

10:30  coffee and pastries

11:00  Welcome

11:15  Introduction to outline and purpose of the day

11:30  Keynote address: Mark Birch

12:15  Q & A

12.30  Lunch

13:30  Pecha Kucha presentations

14:00  Evidencing impact

14:45  Refreshment break

15:15  Next steps: facilitated discussion

15:50  Closing remarks and close

Nourishing Roots - at Oriel College Oxford, with Rev. Grace Allick on 19th March 2025, 10:00-16:00

A day of reflection , restoration and retreat for chaplains with Rev Grace Allick, held at Oriel College, Oxford.

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 10:00 - 16:00

Oriel College, Oriel Square Oxford OX1 4EW

Please join us on Wednesday 19 March 2025 in Oxford for a day of reflection, retreat, and recharging at Oriel College, Oxford University. The day will be led and facilitated by Rev. Grace Allick, who is a member of the Free Churches Group Healthcare Chaplaincy Steering Committee and who leads on Healthcare Chaplaincy for the Assemblies of God denomination. Grace has a wealth of healthcare chaplaincy experience and will lead us in reflection and encouragement around our chaplaincy roles.

To learn more about Grace: Hello. I’m Grace Allick — Free Churches Group

Tickets cost £15 for FCG Chaplains or £25 for non-FCG Chaplains. Please note that refunds can be issued up to 7 days beforehand but for catering reasons, not beyond that date.

For more information, please contact Mark Newitt at mark.newitt@freechurches.org.uk

The First CoNNECT Day

Chaplaincy: opportunity for Networking, Nurturing, Encouragement and Community Together.

Thursday 13th February 2025: 10:30 to 16:00. 27 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HH.

The day includes input from Mark Birch – Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sarah Lane Cawte, Mark Newitt and Bob Wilson Free Churches Group.

This is a day aimed at those with lead responsibilities for chaplaincy, particularly those who work in non-traditional sectors, to come together, share stories, network, and be encouraged. There will be the opportunity to talk with chaplaincy education providers about training needs. If there is other input into the day that you would value, please let us know to help shape our planning.

Booking is to come, but an expression of interest can be made to Thandar Tun at thandar.tun@freechurches.org.uk or 02036518338.

Cost: £30 (including lunch and refreshments).

This event poster is available to download here.