Dying to be heard....

Dying Matters is a coalition of individual and organisational members across England and Wales, which aims to help people talk more openly about dying, death and bereavement, and to make plans for the end of life.

Their strap-line is Let’s Talk About It, and in the past they’ve had themes like The Big Conversation and Talk, Plan, Live. For this year and this season’s Awareness Week (11-17 May), they are encouraging us all to look at the other half of a conversation: how do we respond when someone wants to discuss death, or grief, or their will or funeral plans with us?

The 2020 theme of Dying To Be Heard will focus on how to help by listening. How many people want to talk about death, but feel they have no one to talk to about it? How many people are Dying To Be Heard?
It’s too easy to dodge that conversation with a joke or a “maybe later.” But we know it’s hard for people to talk about death and the practical aspects of getting ready for it. So when someone wants to talk about death, we owe it to them to be the other half of that conversation. If they want to talk, we need to listen. You can find out more about this work and how you can get involved in the conversation… how you can be a better listener when someone is dying to be heard, by checking out the links and resources HERE.

Dying Matters is led by Hospice UK and aims to raise awareness of dying, death and bereavement. Dying matters… End of Life care, for those who are dying, their relatives/carers and staff, is one of the core activities for healthcare chaplains. FCG hosted the round-table discussion concerning end of life care and they were very well received.

(photo by Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer)

Raising awareness of dying, death and bereavement...

Raising awareness of dying, death and bereavement... that is the vision and purpose of the Hospice UK led charity, Dying Matters.

This week is Dying Matters Awareness Week and the theme for this year is “Dying to be heard.”

"Talking about dying and death is the last taboo. People who are dying can feel very isolated,” reports Revd Meg Burton, the Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy for Free Churches. Meg goes on to say that… ”This Awareness Week is looking at dying from the dying person's perspective and will give ideas for people to help encourage conversations."

We hope that the resources that have been produced can help these conversations happen and support families in listening to their loved ones… and especially in giving confidence in shaping the conversation for those who are dying to be heard…

You can download the resources HERE.

(photo courtesy of JD Mason at Unsplash)

Further reflections and resources for life and in death to support your ministry

Revd Meg Burton, Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy for the Free Churches, has been writing, gathering in, compiling and sharing a range of supportive and informative communications with Healthcare Chaplains. Although these are primarily aimed at those working in healthcare chaplaincy, many others may find the content encouraging and helpful in their life and ministry.

There will be regular updates to these resources.

You can find out more and explore these reflections and materials HERE.

Meg provides the leadership on Healthcare Chaplaincy work at a national level for the Free Churches as well as in a multi-faith context.

(photo courtesy of Kerri Shaver at Unsplash)

Coffee and Cake - school and college chaplains get together each Friday @ 4pm

The pattern of meetings and our ability to get together in person has changed much over the last few weeks. - so we are pleased to share that the Centre for Chaplaincy in Education are be hosting a ‘Coffee and Cake’ chaplains’ chat each Friday at 4pm.

Friday Coffee 'n' Cake (bring your own!) for Chaplains in Schools and Colleges 15th May 2020

Every Friday for the foreseeable future, Maggie Everett, the Centre’s Lead Development Officer, will be hosting a ‘coffee and cake’ hour on Zoom, for all chaplains in schools and colleges. Come and join in with others, (sorry you will need to bring your own coffee and cake!) and have a chat about what’s happening with you, your community/ies and the wider world. Invitation:

Topic: Coffee and Cake

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 829 0639 4114

Password: 780537

Sarah Lane Cawte, our Free Church Education Officer, has been working closely with this group and other partners over recent months and there are some exciting developments in the field of chaplaincy in education which you can read about here.

(photo courtesy of Annie Spratt at Unsplash)

Open the Book...

The Free Church Education Committee, as part of its wider work with networks, are part of the Pray for Schools steering group. In this group, we work alongside many agencies who are interested and passionate about supporting Christian education. One of those agencies is Open the Book.

You may well have come across the work of Open the Book in the past. In recent times, the way they have been able to work has changed, due to the pandemic and wider copyright issues, it means that unfortunately all training sessions have been cancelled and the Open the Book Storytellers do not have permission to use The Lion Storyteller Bible on media platforms. But they have come up with a solution that can support us!

Bob Hartman (the acclaimed Christian writer and storyteller) has recorded some of the Open the Book stories for us which we have made into complete assemblies and will be sharing on our Facebook page, one each Monday until the end of the Summer Term. If your school remains open for key worker children you might like to send them these stories.

You can see the films and download their latest resources HERE.

(photo courtesy of Samantha Sophia at Unsplash)