One of the great privileges of being a parish minister is ministering to all the parish, especially our schools. I am blessed to be a chaplain at one secondary and three primary schools. It is an honour because I am invited into schools for Assembly and to share the stories of Jesus Christ specifically. I may not do that in quite the same way as I do in an all-age talk in church. However, we will sing, and I invite the children to join me in prayer, should they wish. It is also a joy to see children sharing the stories of Christmas and Easter when the schools visit our churches for the pupil-led services.
Another aspect of chaplaincy is being with people through good and bad times. Being recognised as part of the pastoral care team means that when tragedy strikes, we are welcomed in to share the care. For example, in Hermitage Academy, where there is a team of chaplains, when there was a death of a pupil, the chaplains set up a quiet space for pupils to come and share their emotions or just to sit. In this instance, we followed the advice attributed to Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.”
There is a lack of young people in many congregations. That is one of the reasons I grasp any opportunity for chaplaincy, such as our weekly CoSY Café at Hermitage Academy. Through the connections made there, we now host homework clubs in two of our Churches, allowing others in the congregation to show their love and care to our teenagers. How much homework is actually done? I’m not sure, however, when one of those girls brings her extended family to a Christmas Eve service and introduces them to me, it is all worthwhile.
Yet that is not why I undertake chaplaincy; I do it because we are commanded by Jesus, “To go into the world …” We cannot stay in our church buildings and expect people to come to us. We must go to where they are, meet with them where they are and walk with them on their journey through life. In his book “Joining God, Remaking Church, Changing the World”, Alan J. Roxburgh encourages us to move out into our community, find out what God is already doing, and join in. Chaplaincy allows me to do this in the communities of our schools. The chaplains at Hermitage are some of the few folks our pupils see in both primary and secondary school. We are part of that transition programme for Hermitage, and we will be there when they arrive at Hermitage for the first time.
This morning, I read this meditation in People of the Way
You breathe out, and we are scattered,
to the very ends of the earth.
Like children blowing dandelions,
we are caught up in the wonder.
We do not journey on a whim,
but rather we float in the hope of sowing something new,
that each and every one of us will imprint something
upon the land that we travel, and the people that we meet.
Even if we shake the dust off our feet,
we still disturb the ground,
perhaps making it ready for the next breath,
the next ones who are sent: carriers of hope.
Pray for them
that they might be welcomed.[1]
This sums up the nature of chaplaincy; we are caught up in the work of being carriers of hope for the world. And so I close with a prayer, also from People of the Way
We can’t all go to the far-flung corners,
though where we are called to go can seem so distant.
Sometimes, even crossing the road appears too far.
Perhaps, Lord, we need Your sense of perspective,
if we are to carry all that You ask
to the places and people that are waiting for us.
Let Your breath carry us,
Your hope inspires us,
Your love fill us,
and Your gospel remind us,
that it is Your Kingdom we are building. Amen.
Rev Christine Murdoch
[1] Pray Now Group, 2016, People of the Way, Edinburgh: St Andrew Press p102.