Reflections from the Chair - October 2021

26th October 2021

Many of us know Rev Mike Haslam as the Chair of Trustees here at CCE. But did you know that Rev Mike is also is Chaplaincy Development Adviser at the Diocese of Bath and Wells? Based in Wells, Mike spends many hours working across Somerset supporting and developing a network of over 240 chaplains across 130 chaplaincies, and in his free time, he is an avid runner.

This month Mike has been busy out on the road and on Zoom visiting and nurturing chaplaincies – this has included; training and commissioning new Pupil Chaplains at St John’s School Wellington, holding a Chaplaincy Day at Bagley Baptist Church and launching a new publication ‘Chaplaincy and Hope’ a snapshot of the story and impact of chaplaincy across Bath and Wells.

This month Mike has also written a blog for The Church of England, and we encourage you to have a look - here’s a small snippet…

Chaplaincy: Listen, Care, Pray, Bless

‘An 11-year-old student was asked what the school chaplain did.  He replied that the chaplain was there to: "Listen, care, pray for and bless the school."

There are as many models of chaplaincy as there are of the local church, yet this remains one of the most all-encompassing and concise definitions I have heard.

Chaplaincy is a growing part of the mixed ecology of the church. It is a missional ministry, going out from the local faith community and meeting people where they are, living and sharing faith there. This also means that chaplaincy works with a significantly younger and more diverse population than those often present within our church communities.’

Click here to continue reading.

You can find Mike’s Booklet ‘Chaplaincy and Hope’ on our Resources Page here.

Follow Mike on Twitter.