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

Hello. I’m Grace Allick

Hello. I’m Grace Allick, a Healthcare Chaplain based in Essex. I am part of the Free Churches Healthcare Chaplaincy Steering Committee and lead Healthcare Chaplaincy for the Assemblies of God, Great Britain. I recently graduated with my MA in Applied Theology, where I focused on chaplaincy and leadership modules. 

I have been working as a Healthcare Chaplain since September 2018, when I completed my Associate Minister training. I later became a Full Status Minister with the Assemblies of God GB in 2019. Prior to that, I was a school chaplain for four years at my local Church of England secondary school.

I absolutely love being a chaplain and the opportunity it gives to walk alongside those needing pastoral, spiritual, or religious support. Each day is different, and each encounter unique. My faith in God and my relationship with Him guide my decision-making every day. As a Christian Chaplain, I carry the presence of God with me and in me. This is important as I face a variety of situations and need God’s wisdom to know how to respond; when to speak and when to remain silent.

I remember once visiting an elderly patient who was very low and asked for prayer. I asked her if I could play some music, to which she replied, “yes please.” I played ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness.’ When I looked up at her, she was crying. I asked if she was okay. She said the song was special to her because it had been played at her wedding and husband's funeral. We sat and sang the rest of the song together. That was a special moment.

I am passionate about encouraging others to think creatively about how we ‘do’ chaplaincy. I like to give volunteers the opportunity to shadow and get involved in the services and support we provide. I feel this helps volunteers develop a deeper understanding of the role and what it entails. Volunteers are a vital part of our chaplaincy team as we are relatively small. Having over 40 volunteers allows the team to extend its reach across the hospital we serve.

I think the future of chaplaincy is very bright. There are opportunities to explore chaplaincy links within the community and to create stronger relationships to support patients within and outside the hospital setting.

The Chaplaincy Chain Podcast Launch

The Chaplaincy Chain Podcast is a collaborative project hosted by the Free Churches Group and supported by The Methodist Church. The podcast aims to open up conversations about the joys and challenges of chaplaincy by exploring its depths and breadths. Working with partners in a variety of contexts, we hope to bring a range of perspectives and experiences into the conversation.

During each episode we’ll notice what emerges in the conversation and use this to decide the next link, continuing The Chaplaincy Chain Podcast!

Nourishing Roots - with Nicola Slee, 2nd July 2024 at Queen's Foundation, Birmingham

Photo by Dawn McDonald on Unsplash

A day of reflection and retreat for chaplains with Nicola Slee at Queen's Foundation, 18 Somerset Road Birmingham B15 2QH on 2nd July 2024, 10:00-16:00

Please join us on Thursday 2nd July in Birmingham for a day of reflection, retreat and recharging at the Queen's Foundation. Our day will be led by Prof. Nicola Slee. A two-course meal and refreshments for the full day will be provided.

Professor Nicola Slee is Director of Research at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, and Professor of Feminist Practical Theology at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. She has wide ranging interests in theology, spirituality, poetry and literature, and is a regular speaker at conferences and leader of retreats. Her most recent publications are Fragments for Fractured Times: What Feminist Practical Theology Brings to the Table (SCM, 2020) and Abba Amma: Improvisations on the Lord’s Prayer (Canterbury Press, 2022).’

Cost: £10 for FCG chaplains and £20 for all others (including lunch and refreshments).

For more information and a discount code for Free Church Chaplains, please contact Mark Newitt at mark.newitt@freechurches.org.uk

Pop–Up Reflective Practice for the Free Church Healthcare Chaplain

Reflective practice is part of the Ten Essential Shared Capabilities described in the UKBHC Capabilities and Competences (2015) document. Similarly, within the Spiritual Care Competences for Healthcare Chaplains (2020) document agreed for Scotland, is recognised as one of four domains of healthcare chaplaincy competence. As part of the process of continuing professional development chaplains are expected to demonstrates the ability to reflect upon practice in order to develop and inform their professional practice. Reflective practice, as described by Mark Stobert, is a form of supervision that is underpinned by a reflective practice mindset. It uses the potential of ‘reframing’ situations to unearth creative responses to those situations and to develop new knowledge of practice for those situations. Over time it becomes a developing state of mind so that we can reflect in action, not just on action. These pop-up sessions are for anyone to join, but are particularly aimed at those in smaller teams who might otherwise struggle to engage in reflective practice.

Photo by Carolina Heza on Unsplash

Dates for the first part of the year are as follows:

• Thursday January 25th 12:00 to 13:00 

• Tuesday February 20th 09:00 to 10:00 

• Tuesday 26th March 12:00 to 13:00 

• Thursday 25th April 15:30 to 16:30 

• May- TBC

• Monday 10th June 12:00 to 13:00 

• Tuesday 16th July 13:00 to 14:00 

A reflection sheet for chaplains to use before the session to help think about what they might have on their mind and after the session to record learning can be downloaded from here. For more information or links/diary invites to the session, please contact Mark Newitt at mark.newitt@freechurches.org.uk