From the Principal Officers

The Ven. Michael Fox (Anglican)
The Revd Jim Gill (Methodist)

The last three years' Annual Reports have been built around a theme. They have been deliberately chosen to reflect the changing nature of the world of work, which itself is set in much wider global and local changes in our ways of life. Those recent reports have also shown the dramatic change in the personnel of the mission in Essex and East London with major changes amongst those who exercise part of their paid ministry in this field and a veritable explosion of volunteer chaplains, as you can see to the rear of this report. In the light of this we asked our chaplains old and new to tell us their stories and when you have read them I hope you will agree that the insight it brings into the extraordinary variety of chaplaincy work and the commitment shown is both exciting and humbling.

Along with Jill Edwards and Crispin White, this is Michael Fox's last year. He has asked for the opportunity of reflecting briefly on his story in relation to the mission:

"For the past seven years I have been privileged to share the reflections, the arguments, the delights and frustrations of the chaplains' group in their monthly meetings. It really has been a mixture of seven fat and seven lean years all in one! What has continued to fascinate me is the way in which this changing group of people has exercised their ministry. From my perspective, at the core of their witness, whichever tradition they come from, is what I would call the ministry of the parish priest, except that it is usually exercised on a non-geographical basis. So, though I had never in my own ministry been formally an "Industrial Chaplain", I think I have done the job. In the early 1970s in Custom House we were able to initiate negotiations around the Commonwealth Sugar Agreement through parishioners who worked for the Sugar Association. In the late 1970s and early 80s the local engineering works, which at its peak employed 400 people and was just down the road from the parish church in Chelmsford, was visited by us weekly. Then in the early 90s I visited another parish engineering works in Colchester. All of these tasks were simply in the role of parish priest. This has, I hope, enabled me to encourage both the pastoral and the theologically critical stance which it is essential for any workplace chaplain to have. I shall miss working both with chaplains and with the council, but, like everyone else, it will be impossible not to be involved and affected by the world of work, which will, I hope, continue to provide my pension!"

Michael Fox
Anglican Principal Officer
Archdeacon of West Ham

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Good Marketing

For the first time in 50 years livestock (pigs, sheep and horses) appeared in Romford Market. This was part of a special Farmers' Market for Harvest Sunday and part of my job was to take a short service outside in the Market after our main Harvest Festival in Church. The choir sang "We plough the fields and scatter" and I blessed the market and everyone was happy  except a few members of the congregation who thought it scandalous that I was involved in such a commercial enterprise. So I took time out to explain the merits of a Farmers' Market - Organically, local grown produce etc. and how the church ought to be encouraging people to be more environmentally aware.

The above is just one example of how my job is developing. I was Licensed as Chaplain of Romford Town Centre two years ago by the Bishop to expand the work we were already doing from St Edwards with the town centre. I have since created an inter-denominational team of volunteer chaplains to work in the shops and offices in Romford and I am blessed with a wonderful team.

I have worked hard to build up Networks with town centre managers, police, community leaders and the like and last year was voted on to The Town Centre Partnership Board which has aided my job enormously and I have a regular slot at meetings.

As a chaplain I am involved in pastoral work in the town, but also have become something of a co-ordinator and am chair of a group of trustees for a youth work project called the Square Wheel in the town centre and I am currently co-ordinating a Street Pastors' initiative in Romford which will put teams of Christians on the streets to build up relationships with people during the hours of 10pm and 4am and as Romford has a strong night time economy with the pubs and clubs this initiative has the full backing of The Town Centre Partnership.

Chaplaincy in Romford is full of surprises and I am never sure how it is going to develop, but it is exciting and I thank God for using me in this way.

Barbara Dennis

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Knocking On Locked Doors

Pressing the intercom on one of over 200 small industrial units here in Purfleet, "What do you want?" "I'm a workplace chaplain for Purfleet", "Well, what do you want?"

I arrived in Purfleet 2 years ago as Associate Minister and Chaplain to Purfleet; the Church had already closed down and I had no information about the Chaplaincy no paperwork or contact numbers. Fortunately I did have Ray who had just started work as Assistant Chaplain before my predecessor left.

Together we trudged round the industrial estates trying to establish Chaplaincy links. We found a crisp warehouse and a glue factory where we received a warm welcome and Cobelfret where there has been a long history of Chaplains visiting the site and the ships, but on the whole my first year was one of discouragement.

What do you want? Well a team of 20 chaplains and a magic key that allows access to every workplace and office would be great, but this ain't going to happen.

2nd year and a change in tack
Thurrock Thames Gateway approached me to help them host a two day consultation called The Purfleet Master Plan. While this was initially for residents, I thought this would be an opportunity for businesses to get involved in the planning process that would effect them as well as residents. This would also give me a good answer to that dreaded question; now I have something tangible to offer them. Two weeks later and every work place has been visited. I've also found a few greasy cafés were I can loiter with intent and bacon butty.

On a serious note a higher level of security with so many offices now locked that used to be easily accessible, but now only by appointment, has made the job that much harder and certainly more frustrating.

Andy Hudson

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A Long Time Ago

I In 1979, as a fresh faced, idealistic, and bungling late teenager, I joined Essex County Fire Brigade and learned all the life skills I needed for getting along with people and dealing with life crisis. Fifteen years later, after a conversion to faith and discerning a call to be ordained I left the fire service and went to theological college and became a vicar and have served ten years as such in Chelmsford Diocese. During my time as a fire fighter, chaplaincy to the fire service had existed through the ministry of the Revd Jackie Jones and later the Revd Katy Hacker Hughes, but the post had been unfilled for two years following Katy's departure. Meanwhile some of the young lads, with whom I joined the fire service had risen to the dizzy heights of top management. So when I wrote to the Essex Fire Service this time last year offering my services in chaplaincy I was remembered by some significant 'centurions' on the top floor of service headquarters. At just that time a new Chief Fire Officer was taking up his post and sent for me to come to headquarters, and he listened to all that I had to say. On hearing a good report he has welcomed the opportunity of re-establishing the chaplaincy. And so began a fruitful time for both myself and I believe for Essex Fire and Rescue Service in chaplaincy over the last 12 months.

Baptism of fire…
Even before I was officially licensed as chaplain a number of people were coming to hear the message. Richard came to talk with me after a particularly difficult incident in the North of the County. Our discussions involved questions of meaning, and of life and death, and of purpose. It was a friendly fireside chat. But it led on to some wonderful things. Richard said himself that it had helped but some time later his wife Lindsay rang me to say that it had and would I baptise their son. So I introduced them to their local church in Colchester where they have become established. Last September I went to preach at the baptism that was rightly performed by their now friend and vicar, from their church.

Coincidence….?
Having driven all the way from far North Wales, returning from my summer holiday, towing my caravan, I pulled off the M25 into the service area at South Mimms for my family to use the facilities. Whilst I sat in the car, another car with caravan pulled up next to me. The driver's wife and children headed the same way as mine. The driver got out and walked round his rig, kicked the nearside rear wheel, turned to me and said, "It's my first time towing". I made all the right encouraging noises and asked him where he was going. He said he was going from Southend to Windsor for four days. I said I used to ride fire engines in Southend and he said, "What watch?"

"White," says I.

"O really - I'm station officer in charge of White Watch, Southend. My name's Barry."

"Mine's Tim and I'm your chaplain," I replied.

"That's right, you are," he said. "I recognise you now. Will you come down and talk to us?"

"I will if you want me to," I said.

"Yes please," he said. "We've all got a faith of some sort."

So now I'm going to spend the day riding red lorries again on White Watch, Southend...

Creative partnership...
The chief, not being one to miss a new creative opportunity, and in seeking to reach specific community groups with the fire safety message, proposed early in the year that, in partnership with the Diocese of Chelmsford, a person should be employed by the Fire Service, to work through the church's networks on fire safety issues. I thought that it was not a bad idea, so I suggested that such a person could combine the fire safety message - all about saving, protecting, and serving - with the gospel message, which is all about saving, protecting and serving. After some further fleshing out of the ideas and getting materials and employment contracts worked out, the Diocese of Chelmsford, with the Fire Service, have appointed someone who is currently on the Diocesan Lay Evangelists' Course. His name is Stephen Rice and he is now undergoing a six week training and induction period with the Fire Service. At the beginning of 2007 he will begin working through Anglican Deaneries in Essex to present and deliver a practical fire safety message, which will involve the free fitting of fire detection equipment, whilst at the same time having the opportunity to engage people with the message of the gospel of Christ.

Tim Ball

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In Epping Forest District

Once upon a time there was a large forest, not quite as large as Sherwood Forest but still a large beautiful forest that over the years has had settlements built that have now developed into towns, in fact seven towns with 81,000 people living there and 5,500 different businesses. We have Epping, Buckhurst Hill, Chigwell and Chigwell Row, Loughton, Debden, Waltham Abbey, Chipping Ongar, North Weald. We also have the villages of Theydon Bois, Lambourne, Abridge and Stapleford Abbotts. The largest employers in the area are, Epping Forest District Council; a supermarket distribution centre with 300 lorries an hour coming and going, 24 hours a day 7 days per week; the Gun Powder Works Museum; tourism; light industry; farming and shopping areas. We also have Stapleford Airfield with a courier business attached.

The chaplaincy team has key people in a large number of areas who are starting to work with the local 'Churches Together'. Also in the District Council Offices we have a fortnightly surgery and regular visiting in the offices. The key people in the team are: Mark Ball, Mike Gibbs, Carol Smith, Hugh Taylor, Martin Webster and myself and we hopefully have a new colleague working with us in 2007. The team members attend Town Partnerships and the Chamber of Commerce. Each member of the team has their own parish duties to attend to as well as the chaplaincy work.

Over the years the forest has seen many changes, with man first walking the land and then controlling the area. What of its future? Environmental issues are high on the Agenda of the District Council and we have two main motorways running through the area, the M25 and M11. Somehow we have to hold a balance between the need for more houses, roads and infrastructure and the care of the environment. We need to hold together the needs of the people who live here and those who commute to work and we also need to hold together the needs of commerce and industry and of those who are employed.

Where are we going? That must be a question that each and every workplace chaplain asks themselves, but I don't think the answer is much different to the same question I would give as a parish priest! Our ministry here is to be a listening ear to those who suffer or want to talk. We are a questioning voice when issues arise. We are a reminder that this is God's world and we have a duty to care for it. We are a link between secular and spiritual. We are a reminder that God and his world are one. We serve all who work in our area, we are trying to build links with leaders of other faiths. We are a Christian chaplaincy team but we care for all people and in this way we hope to show unity and the Father's Love.

That's us! Does the story have a happy ending? I do hope so! Does the forest have any trees left? Yes, thousands of them and it is still a very beautiful forest if somewhat inbuilt. It is still well worth a visit.

Gay Ellis

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Gladiators

Maximus Directorus arrives at his office at the Stanstadium promptly at VIII o'clock to face another day. Stanstadium will be open as usual for the 40,000 or more of the departing populace who have chosen to pass through its doors. Most will come having already paid for seats that will support one or other of the many gladiators who perform at the Stanstadium, including such famous contestants as Tridant-Air and CaesAir. Everyday these high fliers battle it out with other gladiators for dominance, while most of their supporters pay as little as they possibly can to support them.

Maximus Directorus and his many staff, especially those who have the challenging and at times un-enviable job of controlling the turn-stiles, are there for another day of uncertainty, vast crowds, stress and at times abuse, all in the name of budget entertainment. The seething masses move in snake like lines leading them closer to the sleek gladiators being nourished in the arena ready for their daily exertions.

Maximus Directorus also has responsibility at Stanstadium for those who pay the owners of the arena for the privilege of feeding, clothing, entertaining and tempting the hordes with merchandise that is free of tax.

Amidst all this heated activity and gladiatorial combat moves one particular man, a Christian. Unlike his predecessors, he is free to walk amongst the crowds, and he can also walk freely in the arena! This successor of St Martin, this Chaplain as he is called, endeavours to live and learn the ways of the Stanstadium by being with and standing alongside those who work there. Through conversation he reflects upon the increasingly complex problems facing such a large combat-entertainment enterprise, as well as its relationship to the wider world, for there are many outside the Stanstadium who do not want to see it grow in size, and are also worried about the way the gladiators fill the air with the smell of their sweat, but all who work at the arena acknowledge the fact that the paying crowds want the Games to continue.

And so, Maximus Directorus paces up and down his office floor, only too aware of the direction that so many thumbs are pointing.

Chris Bishop

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The Braintree Chaplaincy - Why Did I Agree?

This is MY Chaplaincy story. In 2001 retirement from the active side of Methodist Ministry was a welcome prospect for me. We were settling back into Braintree, where we had previously lived for many years when I was an employee of Marconi in Chelmsford. The local church asked if I would agree to be responsible for re-establishing Industrial Chaplaincy in Braintree. I did agree, but with a limit of three years to end in October 2006; by then I reckoned we would either have failed, in which case there was no point in going on; or we would have got something going, in which case younger blood would be needed to take it forward.

Progress of that Chaplaincy has been reported in 2004 and 2005. We have seen significant expansion in 2006, both in the number of voluntary chaplains and in the workplaces visited, many of them retail, large and small.

Why did I agree to have a go for these 3 years?

I recall that an Industrial Chaplain was appointed to Marconi in New Street, Chelmsford, many years ago. I remember little about it. I do not remember meeting her. I don't think I understood why she was appointed. After all, I reasoned, it was we who were Christians employed in the workplace who were in the front line. As a manager, people in my department knew I was a Christian; they knew my office door was open if they needed to talk. What could the chaplain contribute from outside?

Understanding began to dawn in 1987, three months before I was due to leave Marconi to take up a Methodist Circuit appointment after training on the Southwark Diocese Ordination Course. I was asked if, for those three months, I would relinquish management responsibilities. A new computer system was to be introduced. The time would enable me to learn the system, help to iron out problems, and guide others as they learned to use it.

Suddenly I was no longer 'him in the office'. I wasn't even a competitor for promotion. My relationships in the workplace were totally different. Things were spoken about to me that would never have been admitted to me as a manager - 'one of them'. I realized that the ones who would NEVER walk through my 'open door to the manager's office' were the ones most likely to have needed to!

Then, on my last Marconi day, in September 1987, I was doing the rounds to say goodbye. A message reached me to say one of the directors would like me to look in. I assumed it would be a few minutes of politeness and a handshake. Instead, he sat with me at a table in his office, sharing coffee. It was over an hour before I left. What he needed was someone to talk to, someone to whom he could express in confidence the strains and frustrations that were being experienced at a time when large-scale redundancies were in hand. As he explained, I was no longer part of the setup, but I understood it. He could not share his innermost thoughts with his fellow directors; even less with those reporting to him. And the last thing he wanted was to burden his family. So he talked. And at the end he said, "You may never know just how much this time has helped me."

At last I was beginning to glimpse part of what chaplaincy in the workplace can offer. And that is why, 15 years later, I agreed to try to re-establish the Braintree Chaplaincy for Industry and Commerce. In the process I discovered a superb team of colleagues in Braintree and in the wider sphere of ECCIC. Long may you continue!

David Dickens

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The Last Chapter

When I came to East London from deepest North West Essex we knew it was going to be only for a short time. 2006 was the final full year of my active ministry, my work with ECCIC and of practice as an Industrial Missioner. In a few months retirement looms and with it a new beginning in ministry - yes, I have no intention of laying down all the challenges of Industrial Mission just yet. After 42 years - most of it spent in IM in one way or another, I couldn't give up the addiction. I may no longer 'loiter with intent' in the way that I have done in the past but the drug of industry and commerce still holds its addictive power!

ECCIC's work in the London part of the Thames Gateway over something approaching 23 years, first by the Revd Canon Frank Hackett and then followed by the Revd Phil Sladen is finally seeing its fruition. In the last two years our involvement in East London has increased dramatically - new chaplaincies have been created at Romford and in Barking Reach (London Riverside as it will be known). We have also added the chaplaincy to the Snaresbrook Crown Court - the largest such court in Europe. There are ideas for other potential chaplaincy opportunities across East London but these have yet to come to fruition. However, there is one really big achievement that has been made in 2006 - the appointment of the Revd Kelvin Woolmer to be the Chaplain to Stratford City as it develops and to turn that chaplaincy into a new and exciting piece of work in one of the really big regeneration developments in the London Thames Gateway.

Kelvin started work in Stratford as chaplain and as the parish priest of St Paul's Church, Stratford in October 2006. To begin with, as far as the ECCIC work goes, he will be chaplain to 24 people, all of whom are security people guarding the new station on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) 24 hours a day on three shifts. However, within the first few months of 2007 that number will start to grow. Kelvin will have to adopt a hard hat and will have to get to know hundreds of people who come to Stratford - many of them from as far away as Eastern Europe - to work on the construction of the retail and commercial developments of Stratford City and on the building of the Olympic Village which, after the Olympic Games will become part of the permanent housing within Kelvin's parish.

Kelvin will not have any direct responsibility for the Olympic and Paralympic Games themselves - other structures of chaplaincy will be developed and created for those important events. However, you cannot be in and have an involvement in this cockpit of development and be unaware of what will be happening there. Kelvin is going to need our support and our prayers as he takes on this highly significant role on ECCIC's behalf and on behalf of the people of the area.

The three years that I shall have spent in East London have been highly stimulating. In many ways they have been an effective conclusion to all the things I have done before. Working for a year with the East of England Development Agency on a one-day-a-week secondment in 2002/3 was a steep but vital learning curve for what I have done here - at the very least it helped me to be aware of the meaning of many of the acronyms that would be bandied about in the Gateway! [Incidentally - we have this year produced a little guide to acronyms called The Meaning of Words. If you struggle with these things as I do, ask me for a copy of it. You never know, the interpretation of puzzling terminology might be greatly assisted!]

During these three years I have held an observer's seat on the London Thames Gateway Partnership Board. I have been a director of the London Gateway Forum of Community and Voluntary Sector Organisations. I have represented the Chelmsford Diocese on the London Churches' Group for Social Action. Those were the formal, obvious profile things. Beyond that it has been a fascinating exploration of research; of networking with people from Borough Officials to Government Officers; of studying, socially, economically, politically and theologically what regeneration means; of realising that, just for once, 'our' language of new life, new birth, regeneration and resurrection was also the language that the politicians, the planners, the developers and all the other agencies were using and therefore we could directly share the commonality of life.

Crispin White

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A Homily on Snaresbrook Crown Court Chaplaincy

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."
Matthew 25: 34-36

The work of Snaresbrook Crown Court and others like it seems, on the face of it, fairly obvious; to uphold and administer justice and to do so with mercy and compassion. But justice surely means so much more than the enforcement of the law. I'm sure that those who heard Jesus' words (above) felt that they were law abiding citizens but Jesus is not speaking of the Law but of justice and the values of the Kingdom of God.

Cases which come before the courts at Snaresbrook are rarely 'clear cut', if they were, all defendants would plead guilty to all charges and sentence would be passed. In reality, often the accused feel as aggrieved by the charges brought against them as those who bring those charges. What turns law into justice is the opportunity for all parties to explain before an impartial jury their side of the story and to feel that their stories have been listened to with sensitivity and understanding and without prejudice. So that when they leave the court, whether on foot or in a Securicor van, they feel that, regardless of their situation, they have been treated fairly, honestly and with integrity. In some of the highly emotive and highly publicised cases heard at Snaresbrook, (when the media have already tried and convicted), the suspension of disbelief required by court staff in order to maintain the presumption of innocence can be very difficult to achieve, but achieve it they do day after day, case after case; as a chaplain I find this very humbling to observe.

The roots of our system of criminal law lie deep in the Judeo-Christian traditions of our nation, they have at their heart the inherent value of all human beings and a deep yearning for justice and righteousness; they seek to protect the vulnerable and the weak, to bind up the broken, and to order society in such a way that nobody need ever live in fear. And, if the law is to work properly, it must also seek to make reparation and to restore power to the powerless. It has been a privilege for me to work at Snaresbrook for the last 15 months and to see those principles in action and the way in which those who have become involved in or have been affected by crime are supported and helped to tell their stories. I am always impressed at the level of sympathy, patience and understanding shown to witnesses and defendants alike by all the departments and organisations represented at the court.

We are blessed at Snaresbrook with a large Victorian chapel, left over from when the buildings were an orphanage and school. Every year since the 1970s a carol concert has been held for staff in the chapel but for the first time this year we were able to hold a carol service during which I was able to introduce Fr. Pat Sammon, our new Roman Catholic Associate Chaplain. The service as well as carols and readings contained prayers and a homily and was extremely well received by the 200 or so staff and their family members.

I preached on what I consider to be the incarnational nature of the courts service and for many it was the first time that they had heard a link made between the injustices of the Christmas story and the injustices of contemporary society. I reflected on the vulnerability of the Christ child, the social and political situation into which he was born, the perceived disgrace of his parenthood and the fact that the news of his birth was first given to the shepherds, (the outcasts of society) and then to the Magi, (foreign people representing an alien culture and in all probability an entirely different and 'heathen' faith structure too). At Snaresbrook many of the cases coming before the courts involve asylum seekers and the opportunity to reflect on the refugee status of the Holy Family in fleeing for their lives into Egypt struck a particularly poignant chord with many present.

In essence, what we did and said at the 2006 carol service was no different to that which will go on this year in most parish churches. However, the difference that chaplaincy is making at Snaresbrook is that we are now able to do this amongst people who don't go to church and who were wonderfully grateful to have the Good News shared with them. To actually be able to make the link between justice and the Gospel and point out to people that, 'what you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do also for me' was wonderfully affirming for them and a privilege for me.

Peter Smith

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Developing a Chaplaincy

This story started in 1996. I had been studying to be come an Anglican Lay Reader. During my training I was sent on placement to work with the Revd Jacqui Jones, a member of the Chelmsford Cathedral staff who was also an industrial chaplain. Her chaplaincy covered the fire station, the County Council offices and Marconi Research at Baddow. This was a completely new scene for me. At the beginning of my placement I was considering the wish to serve on the fringes of the church but by the end I wished to serve those completely outside the church. Jacqui left before I finished my training but I was put in touch with the Revd Sylvia Chapman, then Wood, who had been given the task of developing a new chaplaincy in the workplace in Chelmsford. So I was licensed in the Cathedral as a Reader and in my home church, All Saints', Springfield as an Industrial Chaplain. I thank both Jacqui and Sylvia as both have been a real inspiration to me.

Initially, we had nowhere to visit! We wrote letters to medium-sized companies. Two replied, Eastern National Buses and the Royal Mail. We cold-called on many Small Business Units and we were invited into the Meadows Shopping Centre. Since the early days we have grown, adding the market, the parks department and the High Chelmer Shopping Centre as well as Argos.

I have loved the work but it is very different from ministering in the church. The church at its best flings open its doors to all who care to enter while we enter the world of work at their invitation and under their conditions. We have to prove ourselves before we are accepted by the workers. To some we remain a joke.

To most who enter a church they at least wish to do so while in the workplace you meet the whole spectrum of local people - many who are completely un-churched which means that they have no basic Christian understanding, nothing to build on. You meet the de-churched, those who have drifted away from the church as well as those who have left in anger. Finally, a few fringe members and a very small proportion of church members. In fact you meet the world. Surely, our Christian message was to be sent to the world, all of it? The clientele has changed lately as in the areas where I work we now have a sizeable proportion of people from other faiths. We have to serve them also.

Some of the places I visit are a world apart from what I am used to. Some places are dirty; the language is often colourful; the whole atmosphere is foreign to me but they are all God's people. Sometimes it takes a time to get even beyond "good morning" but when they realize that you are not going to take fright, then you can be accepted. They talk about their families, their work, their hopes and their fears. You talk about their beliefs or lack of them and finally, about what you believe in. They very soon tell you why they do not go to church, they often feel it is irrelevant. If they have fallen out with the church they will tell you that too. You may be the only person in ministry they can talk to. When they are ill I ask if I can visit them and many say yes. In a few cases I have become a family friend. I often support them when they suffer bereavement by attending the funerals or by taking them.

There are so many workplace issues that I have to keep in touch with, both for people in management and in the unions. I have supported them through a strike - both management people and the unions. I have supported them when a workplace was knocked down and another one built. In times when there are redundancies and when the workers feel like pawns, and when there have been financial crises, I have been there also.

I feel so privileged to do this work and I have met some wonderful people. Three people stand out as people of God or, at least, touched by the hand of God. One is a Quaker lady; one is a Muslim lady and the third is a lady who claims to have little attachment to any belief. They shine like stars and it makes me think! The final, great privilege I have is to report back to the church I need and love in the hope that others will come and see.

Joan Goode

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This Is MY Story

What a good title this is for someone who is looking back over more than 14 years in chaplaincy at Lakeside shopping centre and 5 years in the police before moving to a new post in Cornwall in 2007.

As I look back I see a beautiful tapestry of experience embroidered and enriched by the people I have met. I would like to just share a few of the insights that I have gained…they are obvious really but they made a profound impact on me and the work.

Never ask a question to which the answer could be 'no'
This was a wise piece of advice from an old and experienced chaplain when I first started. By following it, it has been possible to keep all the doors and options open in the places I have hoped to visit, even if only the tiniest crack. There is always the opportunity then to just give the door a gentle little push from time to time to see if it will move. I remember doing this on one notable occasion when I gave a door that was almost shut a tentative little nudge only to discover a complete turn around. 'You can do whatever you like,' said the manager, 'What would you like to do?' Having expected the door to remain almost shut I hadn't prepared an answer to such an unexpected question! I am sure that there must be a saying somewhere in Chinese wisdom that goes -'he who pushes hard on open door falls flat on face'!

When people are drowning usually someone has pushed them in
I am grateful to another old and experienced chaplain for this insight. He told me this story… 'Once upon a time there was a man walking along the banks of the Thames. He saw someone drowning and jumped in to save him. A little further along the bank he saw another person drowning and jumped in and saved him too. As he continued his walk he saved six drowning people. It was then he met a man sitting on a bench. The man said to him. "If I were you I'd stop keep jumping in that river to save those drowning people. If I were you, I'd go up to the bridge and sort out the person who is pushing them in."' It was from this tale that I understood the prophetic nature of industrial chaplaincy - not something I have ever found easy, but a vital part of the work.

Work while it is light for the darkness comes when no-one can work
I was not in post at Lakeside nor in the police for very long before I realised that I was one of the longest serving 'fixtures'. Staff turnover in both institutions is very rapid. People come and go with their different ideas, methods of working and of course, with their different opinions of chaplains. When I began at both Lakeside and the police I was very blessed (didn't realise how blessed at the time) to be working with people in charge who openly expressed and practised a vibrant Christian faith. There was immediately a rapport and understanding - a mutuality of agenda. When these managers moved on it felt as though an icy wind blew. A new culture which didn't understand kingdom values prevailed. Things which had been taken as read had to be fought for. Invitations to meetings, inclusion in decision taking, just basic communication was no longer automatically extended to the chaplains. It was then that we (the chaplaincy teams) learned how good it was that we had made hay while the sun shone, or put more biblically - that we had worked while it was light because the darkness had come. We learned different skills to cope in the darkness and to welcome the shafts of light - the opportunities - when they appear.

Inside every person is a golden Buddha
Until 50 years ago a huge, ugly, plaster Buddha sat in the middle of Bangkok. No-one respected it and people used it as a rubbish dump. One day a priest decided to take the old statue to his temple. In the move the Buddha cracked and the priest noticed something shining underneath the shell. He removed all the plaster and inside there lay a beautifully crafted statue of solid gold. For years it had been hidden beneath the ugly exterior and no-one knew. Over the years in the workplace I have met so many golden people whose true selves have been hidden by their life circumstances. They have not yet become what they have been created to be. They are in jobs for which they were not made, in companies where they do not fit. They feel unfulfilled and sometimes even victims. It has been an honour to walk alongside some people on their journey towards discovering who it is that God has made them to be.

The middle is a tough place, but someone has to stand there
So many people feel themselves to be in the middle of conflicting expectations. There is the police officer expected by the government to deliver targets and by the public to be seen walking the streets. There is the customer service adviser who is expected to be keeping the shelves stocked high by the supervisor and to be available to deliver product knowledge by the customer. There is the manager who is expected by 'head office' to deliver increased profits by leaner staffing and who is expected by staff to reduce their impossible workload by employing more people. The middle is a tough place. Many people in their workplaces find themselves caught there and some are paralysed by the stress that it brings. And then there is the chaplain, trying to stand impartially in the middle in order to act as interpreter and to reflect on the various perspectives of a single situation reconciling people and redeeming situations where we can.

Every action we take has a global impact
This is perhaps the most important insight of all. Everything we do or say affects other people. Each decision we take influences what happens around the globe. I remember talking with a retail assistant one day. She told me how rude the customers had been to her. I asked her how she coped with mornings like that. 'Oh', she said, 'I'll just go out shopping at lunchtime and give some other shop assistant hell'. She was joking but what a great observation on how life goes. Displaced anger reverberates all around us and gains a momentum of its own. The Bible warns us that words can bring death or life to the hearer.

There is no decision we ever take that does not affect others. The whole of creation is interconnected. The goods we buy determine the quality of life of people the other side of the world. The time we choose to shop determines the hours that those in the retail sector have to work.

In closing I just want to say that it is prayer that underpins everything. I have found the prayer of Jabez invaluable as a model. It is recorded in the First Book of Chronicles 4 v10.

Oh that you would bless me indeed.
Enlarge my territory,
that your hand would be with me
and that you would keep me from evil,
that I might not cause pain.
So God granted what he requested.

Jill Edwards

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Who Would Have Thought It?

Who would have thought it - here I am nearly 24 years later ministering in the area which I grew up in as a teenager. In 1983 my husband and I left our flat in Wanstead and headed for The Salvation Army Training College, Denmark Hill; here we were trained for two years to become Salvation Army Officers. In 1985 we were commissioned (ordained) in the Royal Albert Hall and sent to our first Corps (church) in Northern Ireland.

As a couple we have lived and worked for The Salvation Army in Northern Ireland, Bangladesh, Ghana, London (Camden Town), Devon - but never in my wildest dreams or imagination did I ever visualize living and working 3 miles away from my family home - Gants Hill, Ilford. The church hall in Goodmayes, where I first met my husband, is now a block of flats, my husband's parents' home has been flattened and is now an underpass through Wanstead. The biggest surprise for me, however, was meeting an old school friend, Sharon after 27 years (we first meet as students at Redbridge Technical College) and discovering that she is now a Lay Reader and is married to a Church of England minister.

My biggest adventure, however, has been to step out of my comfort zone, which has been working alongside my husband in various parishes in this country and overseas, and to enter unknown territory as Industrial & Community Chaplain, London Riverside as well as having the opportunity to minister within a Church of England context at Christ Church, Thames View alongside the Revd David Pearson..

Barking & Dagenham is an area that continues to change. Physical and obvious changes such as building work in Barking Town Centre, new homes being built along the quay, the decampment of some of the old tower blocks and the building of new homes within the town centre. Alongside that comes the change in population with people arriving from Africa and Eastern Europe. The Thameside Advice Centre, Thames View recently registered 51 different languages amongst their clients.

One opportunity I have as Chaplain is to visit Thames View Infant School every Thursday morning. I was invited into the school by the Head Teacher, Mrs Helen Collins and I now conduct assemblies and I am available in the staff room afterwards for members of Staff who wish to chat. For someone who has always maintained "I don't do children" and certainly never loved school myself as a child - this ministry has certainly proved to be challenging and yet rewarding.

Challenging, at the beginning, to sit in the staff room and to be looked upon rather suspiciously, with staff very hesitantly and reluctantly wishing to acknowledge my presence. If I had been more of a timid person the experience would have been quite daunting and I probably wouldn't have returned.

Challenging to learn the structure of the school, so as to identify with the teachers, to also recognize some of the challenges they experience, which for many of them is a new experience. For example 25 students in the reception age group were identified as having no or little knowledge of English.

Challenging, for me, to prepare an assembly which is interactive and contains the Christian message once a month then next year every week.

Rewarding (I think!!) to be invited out on a school outing.

Rewarding to have a teacher approach me privately and say, "Thank you for speaking about Jesus to the children."

Rewarding when a teacher says quite openly in the staff room, "Your assemblies always look so exciting I wish we could stay and join in" - maybe need to work on that.

Rewarding when a member of staff stays behind, after everyone else has left the staff room, for a chat.

Rewarding when children recognize me in town and introduce me to their parents.

Rewarding when a new teacher asks, "Will you help me with RE classes?'

Rewarding when meeting a teacher in a shop and hearing her say, "So you actually live in Barking?" and seeing the look of acceptance in her eyes. Most of the teachers, including the Head Teacher, travel in from outside the Borough.

Why I am here? Why am I an Industrial & Community Chaplain - I can sum it up by quoting words from a song by Miriam M Richards:-

What can I do to justify my living?
What can I be to make this life worthwhile?
I'll be a voice to call men to the Saviour,
Just where I am, and win my Father's smile.

Just where he needs me, my Lord had placed me,
Just where he needs me, there would I be!
And since he found me, by love he's bound me
To serve him joyfully.

Judy Schultz

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This Is MY Story, This Is MY Song or Lament

I was appointed to the dual role of Industrial Chaplain to Harlow and Priest-in-Charge of two small rural parishes close to Stansted Airport, fourteen months ago.

The story of the workplace chaplaincy in Harlow during that time is not one of unequivocal success.

I was optimistic that doors would open quite easily for me, because prior to ordination, I had lived in Harlow all my life, and I know the context extremely well. Furthermore, I had worked for Harlow Council as an officer in Community Development for seven years before ordination, and I had every reason to assume that I would find it easy to gain access to some of the key organisations and partnerships in the town.

However, it has not been at all easy; a series of doors have never been fully opened to me. Some of them have been squarely slammed in my face; others have been left slightly ajar, but not opened enough to allow me over the threshold; others have not even been opened in response to my knocking.

I write in the season when Handel's Messiah is being played nearly every day on the radio. Isaiah's prophetic words reach out across the ages to speak into my situation in Harlow:

I have a passion for "every valley" to be exalted, "every mountain and hill made low, the crooked straight and the rough places plain" throughout the town, because, historically, it has not been a place that people have celebrated. I am mindful of the words of a former Archdeacon who once said "what Harlow needs is someone to put their arms around it and love it, because no one really loves it."

Over the last few months, I have been doing my best to love it, but there are, frequently, tensions in my dialogue with some of those who seek to 'regenerate and develop' the town. For I am the one who often issues a note of caution; asking for time to be taken to consider the impact of change on communities. Yet, it seems that we have moved into an age where, in contrast to the church, change is seen, unequivocally, as a good thing, no matter what is destroyed in its wake.

I have had to wrestle with the paradox of my Christian ministry; some view me as a relentless moderniser, who is in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water, to others I seem to have gained a bit of a reputation for being little more than a stiff-necked dinosaur!

Some of the difficulty that I am experiencing in fulfilling my mission to the town arises from the fact that "no prophet is accepted in the prophet's home town" (Luke 4. 24). Despite the changes in key personnel over the years since I have been away from the town, there are still many who remember me in another role and who, I suspect, find it hard to engage with me in this new capacity.

Nevertheless, I have been reassured that Industrial/Workplace Mission takes a long time, and so I know that we have to take 'the long view' and not be too dispirited when we are not immediately successful.

I am in the first few chapters of the story of my chaplaincy to Harlow and I am expecting quite a few twists in the plot to emerge as I continue to write it. I also anticipate some wonderful encounters, which will enable me to connect my story with the stories of those whom I meet, and to demonstrate that we are all connected, ultimately, to the 'greatest story ever told'.

Harlow might be the modern equivalent to Nazareth, and it is my mission to show that something good can and does come out of Harlow; that God's arms are around the town, loving it to death.

Christine Hawkins

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Whose Story Are We Telling?

The people of North Woolwich and Silvertown in East London wait patiently for the marks of regeneration. It has to be said, though, that had this community of E16 not been allowed to degenerate following the closure of the Royal Docks some 40 years ago, perhaps the years of desolation, isolation, unemployment, poverty and suffering could have been avoided.

A recent report in a national newspaper ran a substantial article on the life of the people of E16, following the murder of a young, 22 year-old, father. The following quote was given on behalf of the local people: "We are beginning to see changes in the Royal Docks because of the Olympics, but it was coppers we wanted, not runners." During the summer of 2006, our community experienced eight murders; most did not receive press coverage.

Much of the land which is to be developed has now been cleared; mountains of building rubble are stacked on the banks of the River Thames, awaiting clearance by barge to landfill sites. More businesses and light industry have relocated to make way for the changes.

Community forums provide a stage for consultation on the re-development, but the problem is that few people attend them. One of the reasons for this is that there is a lack of confidence that the voice of the people will be heard and, most importantly, acted upon. I ask, then, whose story are we telling? Are we creating a story which is based on a solid foundation of the long-standing people of the Royal Docks, and the industry which is very much a part of our community? Will we build adequate homes for our young people to remain living here, thus bringing back the concept of extended family life? Will the re-development create long-term employment for the local people, or are we creating a story which is based upon wealth and exclusivity?

Many people purchase properties here simply as long-term investments. The apartments are rented out; people come and people go. They shop on-line for all their basic commodities and their luxuries too, so even at the most basic level, they do not have to integrate with the local people; the contrast in standards of living is extreme.

If we are to build a community which is sustainable, then it is vital to integrate people for different socio-economic backgrounds. We await further news of the rather grand development at Silver Town Quays, which, amongst other things, will accommodate the largest aquarium in the world.

Transport has been high on the agenda: The Master Plan for London City Airport, one of the major employers in our community, indicates a substantial increase in air traffic and passenger numbers.

The Docklands' Light Railway (DLR), which arrived in the community at this time last year, has been extremely successful, both for the local people and London City Airport, which sees it as an enormous asset. Construction to extend the line under the Thames, connecting East and South London, is well underway.

There are also plans to bring Crossrail through the Royal Docks, tunnelling under the Thames here at North Woolwich. Finally, we await news of the Thames Gateway Bridge, which will arc the river between Thamesmead in South London, and here. All of the developments will change the face of our community. We very much hope that the spirit of the East End of London will enable us to tell a story that embraces those for whom the area is already home, and those who choose to come and live or work in our community.

Trish Capriello

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