Categories: uncategorized
Date: 29 September 2012 12:35:44
The Methodist Church have put together an excellent new small group resource called Chaplaincy Everywhere. Whilst it is designed for small group use having looked at it and its usefulness for individuals who have an existing understanding but might be wanting to explore, understand and get their heads around chaplaincy more (and have a potentially small time scale to do so) it is really useful too. It has the potential to be used as a daily resource for study, reflection and prayer, etc over a fortnight (or however much time you might have) to go deeper into this - if appropriate.
First good thing about this is that it is free to download by PDF and so you don't have to shell out for a book/ wait for it to arrive.
The introduction lays out what the course is and what the approach to chaplaincy within it is. It explains how it is intended to be a small group resource which will last 7 weeks. The aim is to create an atmosphere where chaplains can be supported by understanding prayers as well as supporting those whose calling and vocation involves chaplaincy.
The first session is focused around an understanding of what it means to be "missional". There is opening prayer followed by an "icebreaker" - although this term is somewhat misleading and would could create the wrong impression. What it involves is an introductory chat with people getting together in groups of two or three to talk about why they're there and what they want out of the group.
There are a set of questions to be explored about what we understand by the term chaplaincy and what we think a chaplain does before an exploration of Genesis 1 and 2. The key ideas which are drawn out of the bible study and then developed are creativity and community. This then moves on to a brief discussion on what application might mean for us before a session of final worship.
Session two is focused around concepts of incarnation, sacrifice and witness. The initial activities are focused around looking at Jesus and who he was/ who we think he was/ what he means to us before moving into a bible study around John 4: 1 -42. The story is then looked at through the lens of chaplaincy. There is then a brief look at the sacrificial nature of chaplaincy before moving on to an exploration of Luke 24:13-35. As with session one the final worship is a sharing of the Lord's prayer and a blessing.
Session Three begins by focusing on the period between the resurrection and the ascension. It involves a reading of Acts 1 where you then put yourself within the story and focus on your feelings. This then expands into thinking about the Spirit and the time after the ascension before focusing the discussion on the place of the Spirit in "calling" and "being sent". After a brief trip into Revelation the application part comes from thinking about what it means to be within and be working as a chaplain in "in-between times".
Session Four is about "the cloak of chaplaincy" and begins by introducing Martin of Tours who is thought of as the first chaplain. This encourages us to think about our gifts and about those whom we particularly notice around us. The initial bible study for this session comes from 1 John 4: 7 -21. This leads on to a concrete discussion on "what does it actually mean to....". There are within this session a series of statements which help understand what the nature of chaplaincy actually is. In many ways this can be seen as the hinge session which moves the course on from being quite abstract and philosophical in terms of its approach and theological discussion at times and on to being concrete.
Session Five gives an example of a chaplain and explains the importance of administration and keeping good records/ notes to help as you continue to engage with people. There are other examples of chaplaincy given too including the story of a prison chaplain, a FE chaplain and a town centre chaplain. Within the city centre chaplain bit it includes how other initiatives such as a Street Pastors initiative has emerged.
Session Six is slightly different in style and can be seen as to moving into the "so what? you've heard the theory, looked at the stories, what are you going to do?" phase. This session is where it moves from something which is ideally studied as a group into something which relates to a team looking specifically at the need in their local community.
Session Seven looks at the problems of voluntary work and working with volunteers before moving on to explore the need for specific job descriptions. It is a session that then lays out good practice for starting up any initiative and the importance of job specifications, pastoral references and so on. It also highlights the importance of project management and so on. It's an excellent session which talks about setting up chaplaincy and working with the not for profit sector more generally. It's a good practice session for anybody interested in social entrepreneurship particularly from a faith based perspective.
In terms of who should use this course, as I indicated it is v. useful for individuals who want to explore, discern, develop their knowledge further. But more importantly it will be useful for small groups within churches or circuits who know they want to take mission and outreach in their communities further but need to work out what that might mean.
I'd say this may be a very good follow on for certain groups to the EDEV course BUT it is not something that should be done just because people like courses or as something we think we'll try because we can't find a better bible study. This course should be entered into intentionally, I think.