"Talking about death doesn’t bring death closer. It’s about planning for life, helping us make the most of the time that we have...."

“Talking about death doesn’t bring death closer. It’s about planning for life, helping us make the most of the time that we have….”, so a leaflet produced by Dying Matters says…

Since the Dying Matters Coalition was set up in 2009, they’ve created a wide range of resources to help people start conversations about dying, death and bereavement. These have been a great success and used by a host of different organisations including hospices, hospitals, care homes, community centres, financial advisers and funeral directors have all used them to successfully raise awareness in their area.

We all need a bit of help and support to enable us to raise conversations about death and dying - for our own death, the death and dying those we love or those we minister to in our churches. Help is at hand! Dying Matters have produced a range of useful, sensitive and informative pamphlets to support us in doing this.

Why we need to talk more about death and dying

We are featuring these resources and sharing them with you as part of Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021 - Being in a good place to die. You can find out more about the important work of this Hospice UK led coalition and how we can get involved HERE.

(photo above from Dying Matters resource pack and cover photo courtesy of Harli Marten at Unsplash)

"Talking about death is a taboo subject that people shy away from or feel anxious about..."

“Talking about death is a taboo subject that people shy away from or feel anxious about", says our Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy, Mark Newitt. This is something that is often all too true, so the Hospice UK led coalition of organisations (Dying Matters) encourage us to take part in an Awareness Week, during this week, to help to raise the profile of Dying Matters; they want to enable us to have the confidence and courage to start conversations with those in our families and churches and for those we minister to.

“Dying Matters Awareness Week is a fantastic opportunity to open up the conversation around death, dying and bereavement and I encourage you to look at the resources available on the Dying Matters website.”

— says Rev Dr Mark Newitt, Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy, Free Churches

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VITAL WORK OF DYING MATTERS AND

HOW TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DEATH AND DYING

Prayerfully preparing for Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021 - taking place all next week

Many of you will already be aware of the Hospice UK movement. Well, they are the lead organisation, with a group of coalition partners, who support Dying Matters; next week is the Awareness Week - on the theme of ‘Being in a good place to die’.

Over the course of the coming week, through our FCG website and social media channels, we will be sharing with you a range of poignant and timely reflections linked with the vital work of Dying Matters, brought to us by chaplains in healthcare and palliative care settings. There will be the chance to have access to helpful and sensitively produced resources, films, books and other support materials.

Please do check out the news page in the coming days; we hope and pray that the content shared will be an encouragement to us all. We are working alongside Dying Matters to help to create an open culture that talks about death, dying and bereavement. Dying matters to all of us - so let's talk about it.

Thank you for taking part in Dying Matters Awareness Week 2021.

This year, we are focusing on the importance of ‘being in a good place to die’.

“Dying Matters believes in an open culture that talks about  death, and where people feel able to listen and support those  who are planning for end of life, who are dying and who have  been bereaved.
The lack of openness in society has affected the quality and range of support and care services available to patients and families. 
It has also affected our ability to die where or how we would wish. We want to break the stigma, challenge preconceptions and normalise public openness around death, dying and bereavement.”

— says Dying Matters

(cover photo by Priscilla Du Preez at Unsplash and photo above from Dying Matters Resources)

"God and the Pandemic" - lecture on 17th May at 5.30pm

David Wilkinson, theologian and scientist, who is Principal of St John’s College and a Professor of Theology at Durham University, will be giving a lecture on the topic of ‘God and the pandemic’.

This event, hosted on Eventbrite, is The Michael Perham Cathedral and University of Gloucestershire Lecture 2021. You can find out more and book your place HERE.

“How does a scientist and a theologian engage with some of the big questions raised by the pandemic? What have we been learning about what it means to be ‘led by the science’ and the vulnerability of humans to the natural world? Where is God in all of this? The pandemic has focused questions in the relationship of science and theology which are both helpful and challenging.”

— says the event's flyer

Professor David Wilkinson

Event flyer

(cover photo by Tom Barrett at Unsplash)

Opening up Chaplaincy - a recording of webinar

On 28th April, we hosted a dynamic and informative event all about Chaplaincy. Over 100 people from a variety of churches and areas joined us for the webinar - Opening up Chaplaincy.

You can view a recording of the event HERE.

Guest speakers at this event were:

• Revd Bob Wilson, Free Churches Group Secretary for Prison Chaplaincy & Free Churches Faith Adviser

• Gary Hopkins, Ministry Development Officer, Connexional Team, The Methodist Church

• Revd Nana Kyei-Baffour, Healthcare Chaplain, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

• Revd Dr Michael Peat, Free Church Chaplain, University of Bristol Multifaith Chaplaincy

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You can find out more about the work of the Free Churches Group and Chaplaincy on our main website, under the various sector headings; we also have a special page on which we offer further information and resources all about chaplaincy HERE.

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(cover photo courtesy of Pedro Ramos at Unsplash)