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

Prisons Week, 2022 Campaign – 9th-15th Oct, what are you thankful for?

For nearly 50 years, Prisons Week has encouraged Christians to pray for all those affected by crime and imprisonment. The Samaritan leper in Luke 17, inspires us all to seek what he was amazed to find when returning to thank Jesus for his healing … a new beginning.

Our recent campaigns have moved us, like him, from loneliness and despair to hope. And now, like him, we also return with gratitude. So, what are you thankful for?

Conceived, directed and produced by Spread Creative.

Please download the Prisons week prayer leaflet Here.

Annual National Free Church Prison Chaplains Training, Fire Service Training College, Moreton in Marsh in the Cotswolds from 23rd - 25th Nov 22

The National Free Churches Chaplains training will be held at the wonderful Fire Service Training College, Moreton in Marsh in the Cotswolds from 23rd through to 25th November. Registration on Day 1 will start at 11 am, with departure after lunch on Friday.

Our theme this year will be “For when I am weak …” from 2 Corinthians 12:10. We all know how this scripture ends, and how the apostle Paul says that he delights in his trials. However, there are times for many of us where we are so very weak that we are unable to experience that which we know to be true.

Image from Youversion

This year, the National Free Churches Chaplains’ Training will be focusing, with the expert help of Dr. John Andrews, international speaker, author, and motivator, the practical support of the HMPPS wellbeing team, and the grace of God we experience in our fellowship with one another, on getting back some of that spiritual resilience in our lives. We will have a fairly full programme for the prison chaplains to engage with over the three days (48 hours) we have together, but for me, it is crucially important that you find the time in the training to recharge spiritually in a way that is appropriate to each individual. This event is for all who are endorsed and serving as prison chaplains from Free Churches traditions, whether paid or unpaid, sessional or contracted.

This event will count as 17 hours of Spiritual Development CPD. Spiritual Development CPD is an endorsement requirement for all Free Churches Chaplains.

It is now 5 years since our last National Free Churches Chaplains event. This one is shaping up to be the best yet!

To register, please visit the Eventbrite site here.

Please cascade this information to your regional prison chaplaincy contact as you feel is most appropriate.

Revd Bob Wilson

Secretary for Prisons Chaplaincy

"We find peace in a broken place." Praying in Prisons Week

Prisons Week prayer for Saturday 16th October:

PROMISE
”Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!” Luke 12:24

We find peace in a broken place. God’s grace can give you new strength. My wounds you heal. Lord Jesus, how great you are! They control the locks, you Lord control the clocks. Time will pass and we will be free. Amen

“Trust the past to the mercy of God, the present to his love, the future to his providence. ”

— St Augustine of Hippo 354 – 430 AD

Thank you for joining us during Prisons Week for a week of prayer and reflection on the theme of Respair – the return of hope after a period of despair. You can continue to share and pray with the Prisons Week resources throughout the year and you may also be interested in the monthly prayer diary produced by our friends at Prison Fellowship.

May God bless you in your work and witness, your life and ministry. Amen

Revd Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer

(cover photo courtesy of Ante Gudelj at Unsplash)

Thank you from Bob and I and from all at Prisons Week!

It’s a heartfelt and prayerful THANK YOU from Revd Bob Wilson and I from FCG (pictured below) and from all of the sponsors of Prisons Week for joining hundreds of us in a wave of prayer throughout the week of prayer for Prisons Week.

You can continue to pray, view and share the Prisons Week materials throughout the year and we look forward to praying with you all again in October Prisons Week 2022.

Revd Bob Wilson sharing at Prisons Week event

Revd Sara Iles, at a Congregational Federation church, Bethlehem Blaenavon (CF are members of FCG)