Explore values and virtues which will help 16-19 year olds grow as rounded individuals

Are you working with young people aged between 16 and 19 years old?

The West Midlands Churches’ Further Education Council has prepared some thought-provoking and interesting resources entitled Ready for Life in six different topic areas:

1. CULTIVATING IDENTITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING

2. BEING FAIR AND JUST

3. BEING MERCIFUL AND FORGIVING

4. BEING THANKFUL

5. CARING FOR OTHERS, ANIMALS & THE ENVIRONMENT

6. BEING HOPEFUL AND VISIONARY

Explore values and virtues which will help 16-19 year olds grow as rounded individuals.

For further information and to find out how to order your copy:

(cover photo courtesy of Eliott Reyna @ Unsplash)

We have a new Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy starting tomorrow!

Rev Meg Burton, who has been diligently serving for many months, as Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy for the FCG, is pleased to announce that her successor has been appointed. May we take this opportunity to thank Meg for all of her hard work in this role as we usher in the new Secretary. We will, in due course, have the chance to thank Meg more fully, but for now, here is some background on Meg’s successor!

It is Rev. Dr. Mark Newitt (pictured below). Mark is an Anglican and has been a chaplain in Sheffield for 15 years, working at both the Teaching Hospital and, more recently, at St Luke's Hospice. Meg writes, “like many of us, Mark has been influenced by, and has experience of, several different denominations, both while he was growing up (Salvation Army, Methodist and Baptist) and since working as a healthcare chaplain.”

Mark has been one of the leaders of the Yorkshire and Humber Chaplaincy Research Group and is also Book Review Editor of the journal Health and Social Care Chaplaincy. He brings a wealth of experience and fresh eyes to the role.

Mark will begin working with us tomorrow and Meg will leave once he has settled in, so there will be time for a hand-over. Congratulations, Mark, and welcome!

“Mark is looking forward to working with Free Church Healthcare chaplains and understands the theology, values and practice that have inspired the Free Churches for many centuries.”

— Rev Paul Rochester, General Secretary of the FCG

Rev Dr Mark Newitt

Praying for Prison Chaplains

Prison Fellowship invite us to pray for prison chaplains on the last Sunday of February. This has been a particularly challenging and difficult time for those serving as chaplains in our prisons, so join us as we offer heartfelt prayers to God for their work and who they seek to support and minister to.

Living God,

We ask God to give prison chaplains insight to see where the need is greatest, guidance to direct their attention to the men, women and young people in their care who are most in need of support.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. Amen

—-

May I also invite us all to pray for the work of Rev Bob Wilson, Secretary for Prison Chaplaincy and Free Churches Faith Adviser, in the chaplaincy work he does at his local prison, as well as all the vital work he does to support Free Church prison chaplains across England and Wales.

Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer

Bob Wilson is the Free Churches Faith Advisor to both publicly and privately run prisons. This work sees him regularly visiting all 124 establishments across England and Wales for both pastoral support of Prison Chaplains, and to support prison management in their recruitment needs.

(cover photo courtesy of Jon Tyson @ Unsplash)

Relationships, Presence and Hope: University Chaplaincy during the COVID–19 Pandemic

Chaplains and faith advisors have been on the frontline of the pandemic. This report explores the unique contributions of university chaplains during this time. (2021)

Throughout the pandemic, chaplains and faith advisors have been supporting the isolated, comforting the bereaved, and providing pastoral and spiritual care to anyone who needs it.

In universities, chaplains have faced a massive health crisis among students. In November 2020, a survey of 4,193 students conducted for the National Union of Students found that 52% said their mental health was worse than it was before the pandemic, but only 29% of those people had sought any help.

This report captures the experience of higher education chaplaincy during the pandemic, drawing on interviews with 16 chaplains from universities across the UK. It explores the unique contributions of chaplains during this time, the challenges they have faced, and what lessons can be learned by chaplains and employers.

Download the full report HERE and read an executive summary HERE.

For more information, please visit Theos

Methodist Schools webinar: so, you’re interested in school chaplaincy?

Every couple of years, Methodist Schools organises an informal session for people to find out more about school chaplaincy and explore whether it might be a calling for them.

This year we are running the session by webinar on 3rd March at 2.00pm – 3.45pm. There will be an overview of the nature of chaplaincy from the leader of the Centre for Chaplaincy in Education and reflections on the nature of the work from serving chaplains in the state and independent sectors – and from a headteacher, talking about why it is important to the school.

This session is aimed at people who might be interested in working in school chaplaincy, whether lay or ordained. It’s being run by Methodist Schools, so it will be coloured by experience within that sector but will have a more general appeal if chaplaincy is your area of possible interest. It would also be valuable for people about to embark on a school chaplaincy role – maybe someone anticipating a station which includes a school, for example.

All interested people are welcome! If you would like to join us, please send your details to the Methodist Schools office (oolayinka@methodistschools.org.uk) and we will send you joining instructions.