Free Churches Group’s CoNNECT II networking day for chaplains
- debbiethrower0
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
In her national development role for Anna Chaplaincy, Julia Burton-Jones attended the second networking day for chaplains hosted by the Free Churches Group at Lumen URC Church in London on March 9. The day was entitled ‘Exploring Story’.
It was a hybrid event, with some chaplains joining online. Among the more than fifty participants were chaplains from all sectors, including prisons, hospitals, mental health trusts, hospices, higher education and community chaplaincy.
The focus of the day was research on chaplaincy and its relevance to our differing contexts. Delegates were fascinated to learn about a Dutch chaplaincy research project looking at case studies. Researchers worked with chaplains to examine what was happening in a range of chaplaincy encounters and what could be learned from each one. The project has been published in a book entitled Chaplains Investigate their Practice: The Dutch Case Studies Project (edited by Martin Walton, Jacques Korver and Niels den Toom, published by Wipf and Stock in 2025).
The book has case studies from a diverse range of chaplaincy contexts, but the one that caught Julia’s eye when she purchased a copy after the event is the story of a chaplain working with an older woman with dementia in Chapter 8 (entitled ‘Reiteration of Ritual: Case Study from Eldercare for Dementia’). Mrs Bremer’s only daughter died, and the chaplain was called in to the locked psychiatric unit of a nursing home to support her in her grief. Mrs Bremer is a Roman Catholic living ‘in a region where faith is more a matter of doing (that is, ritual) than something to talk about’.
The chaplain was surprised to find that Mrs Bremer’s desire was to talk with her, not about her recent grief, but about the trauma of growing up with an abusive father. Over time the chaplain introduced a ritual to help Mrs Bremer bring this trauma before God. The ritual helped Mrs Bremer find peace, but over time a need emerged to repeat the ritual over again.
An aspect of learning from this case study of Mrs Bremer is the role of ritual in chaplaincy.
The Dutch Case Studies project was presented on March 9 by the Revd Dr Andrew Todd, from Anglia Ruskin University who is a practical theologian engaged in chaplaincy research, among other areas of interest. A reason for presenting the research is the hope that, through the Free Churches chaplaincy network, chaplains might be recruited for a similar case study research project in the UK, funding permitting.
The Dutch project has provided valuable tools for looking at case studies through lens of shared exploration between researchers and practitioners. It provides a framework for chaplains writing up case studies which can then be discussed by a research community made up of academic researchers and chaplains; through this process an understanding is developed over what is happening in chaplaincy encounters and what impact chaplaincy care has for individuals.
Reflecting after the event on the case study approach, Julia sensed a key opportunity for Anna Chaplaincy to develop understanding of how community-based chaplaincy supports older people. At some point in the future, it may be possible for an Anna Chaplain to be part of a larger case study research project with Anglia Ruskin.
The CoNNECT II participants also heard from the Revd Shannon Conklin-Miller who joined the event online from the US to talk about a recent research project conducted by the Susanna Wesley Foundation at Duke Divinity School. This research focused mainly on Methodist contexts in the UK but drew in other denominations and had a global reach. It considered how chaplains are called, trained, deployed and supported, drawing out key themes in taking the temperature of chaplaincy. Its findings chimed with experiences in Anna Chaplaincy, with the following key themes identified:
Chaplaincy in Britain is diverse in context and its breadth is growing
A shared understanding of chaplaincy is needed as there are blurred boundaries between chaplaincy and other ministries, principally pastoral ministry and pioneering.
There are challenges in funding and in institutional relations, especially in community chaplaincy where funding is difficult to secure because we have a ‘foot in two camps’, needing to speak the language of the church but also the organisations we work with.
There has been a rapid growth in lay chaplaincy uniquely in Great Britain – in most countries, chaplaincy roles are held by ordained people. This lay involvement has allowed the growth in diversity of contexts, but it comes with concerns over training, safeguarding, and accountability, as it is often ‘on the edges’.
There are significant development needs – more entry points and opportunities, a better range of training opportunities (initial training and certification). Academic programmes are strong but there is little available at lower levels and limited denominational pathways. There is a lack of reflective space.
Networks and peer support/learning, including reflective practice, are lacking. Chaplains feel isolated and benefit from gathering in peer support networks – in person or online. It is hard to practice self-care, especially in high crisis contexts.
Susanna advocated theological development as distinct from ministry training for ordination and creating space for ‘Sabbath’ which she described as alternate spaces to be quiet and reflect.
Finally, Julia valued the contacts made with other chaplains during the CoNNECT day. In group work she was able to learn about the role of Chaplaincy Derbyshire (Chaplaincy Derbyshire – Serving The Heart of our Community) from Helen Foley who leads on their community chaplaincy referrals received via a service level agreement with Derbyshire Community Healthcare Services. Chaplaincy Derbyshire also has care home chaplaincy and is a networking and learning space for all forms of chaplaincy in the county.
Julia also met Andrew Williams through round table discussions on case studies. Andrew is head of Pastoral and Spiritual Care at Oxford Health (Meet the team - Oxford Centre for Spirituality & Wellbeing (OxCSWell) where he is course leader for an innovative post graduate diploma in psychospiritual care. You can find out more about the course here - Post-Graduate Certificate in Psychospiritual Care. It is described as aiming to:
‘support the development of an effective, holistic and inclusive cross-disciplinary approach to health and social care whereby practitioners are able to work collaboratively to understand the complex, significant relationships between their patients’ and clients’ medical, therapeutic and spiritual needs.’
A student on the Certificate in Psychospiritual Care reflected:
“This unique interdisciplinary course has empowered us, as clinical and pastoral professionals, to discover spirituality at the live interface between clinical disciplines, scientific research, and pastoral vocation.”
The networking Free Churches Groups enables brings chaplains together in ways that enable mutual support and generative conversations about the distinctive contribution of chaplaincy in a variety of contexts. The Free Churches Chaplaincy Hub (CHAPLAINCY HUB — Free Churches Group) is a valuable source of information on chaplaincy, and features its regular Podcasts (like Chapter 8 on Chaplaincy in Liminal Spaces – on the Margins).
The Anna Chaplaincy team are pleased to be linked with the Free Churches chaplaincy network, and other chaplaincy groupings in the UK. These collaborations enable BRF thinking on Anna Chaplaincy to develop and necessary structures to be put in place for recruitment, training, development and support for Anna Chaplains.
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