On Monday 1 July nearly 40 Anna Chaplains and Anna Friends from across Kent spent the day together at St Martin’s Church in Maidstone for their annual study day. Julia Burton-Jones, Anna Chaplaincy lead for Rochester and Canterbury Dioceses (and training and development lead for Anna Chaplaincy at BRF Ministries), responded to requests from the team in approaching speakers for the day to provide a programme that would be helpful for their work.
The Revd Joyce Addison welcomed everyone and prayed for the day at the beginning, and Angie from St Martin’s, who runs the Monday evening Ignite initiative, spoke about this wonderful ministry where a meal and a café style service is offered.
Julia interviewed Anna Chaplain Sue Yeo about her ministry with St Martin’s and her role in coordinating the Anna Chaplaincy team in Maidstone. Sue has been involved in care home ministry for over 20 years and reflected on the changes over this time, both in the needs of the resident population and the culture of care provided. In her parish she has a care home that charges high fees and can provide extensive enrichment for its residents, while another relies on local authority placements funded at much lower rates so has a limited activities budget; Sue has worked with the second home to identify local organisations willing to visit at no cost so that residents don’t miss out on life-giving activity and community engagement.
There were three main speakers for the study day. Jackie Tuppen spoke about her role as Admiral Nurse, founder of Cogs Clubs and member of Holy Trinity Margate. Cogs Clubs are designed for people in the early stages of dementia and are based on the well-recognised approach of Cognitive Stimulation Therapy. A weekly five-hour club which offers friendship and fun activities aimed at maintaining ability is also a valuable way of offering family carers a regular break.
In Kent, many Cogs Clubs are organised or hosted by churches, including Holy Trinity Margate. Jackie’s presentation gave an opportunity to consider how the church groups aimed at people living with dementia across the two dioceses might use the principles of cognitive stimulation.
Susan Schibli then spoke about providing meaningful activities for care home communities and how Anna Chaplains and Anna Friends can work effectively with care home teams. She is the activities and community engagement facilitator at Pilgrims’ Friend’s Milward House in Tunbridge Wells. Susan is a licensed reader at St James’s Church in Tunbridge Wells and part of the broader ministry in the parish with people with dementia and care homes.
Susan gave helpful pointers on offering worship and one-to-one spiritual care, drawing attention to Teepa Snow’s Gems dementia stages activity model which is used in Pilgrims’ Friend care homes to engage people with memory problems in meaningful activity.
In the afternoon former hospice chaplain, the Revd Canon Penny Stephens reflected on how we experience grief in our ministry and ways we can support health and care workers through the successive bereavements they face at work. She emphasised the importance of understanding (and helping others understand and respect) that we all grieve differently. Finding ways to allow ourselves to acknowledge when the death of an older person we have supported hits us hard is important.
Penny said those working in health and care often have to move on quickly to the next task when someone they have been caring for dies. How can we provide spaces to express sadness and loss and remember the individuals who have died, doing so in ways that maintain confidentiality and allow for different views and beliefs? Penny shared music, poems, prayers and images that might provide an outlet for grief.
There was space for sharing and getting to know one another during the refreshment breaks and small group activities. Julia also invited those present to share ideas and resources from their local context, and several took the microphone and shared experiences. Newly appointed Anna Chaplain Helen Sanderson, from Romney Marsh, brought beautiful murals that had been created in a local care home by residents and visiting home-schooled young people as part of a Lent project.
Comments from two Anna Chaplains who attended summed up the general feeling:
‘The speakers were good and gave us lots of ideas, and it was lovely to meet up with Anna Chaplains from both dioceses, meet new friends and catch up with those we’ve not seen for a while.’
‘Thank you for such an excellent day of training on Monday. All three speakers were inspiring to listen to. It was also really nice to meet other people doing the same work.’
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