Growing Partnerships – March 2022
‘In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 1: 4-6
When I look back over the 3 years CCE has been in existence and reflect on the amazing people we serve alongside I truly do pray with joy. Chaplains are at the heart of all we do and it is because of you that CCE exists.
I am always inspired by meeting and working with others and this past month has provided many such opportunities. Amongst these was my first meeting with Lucy Moore (founder of Messy Church) who has just taken up the role of Head of Growing Faith Foundation with the Church of England was really encouraging: she is beginning to formulate some really exciting ideas about how schools, churches and families can be encouraged to draw closer AND sees chaplaincy as pivotal in many of these plans. We are meeting again in May so watch this space!
An actual face to face meeting with Gary Hopkins, the Mission Development Officer within the Connexional Team of the Methodist Church showed he is looking to encourage chaplains and chaplaincy across the Methodist circuits in England and Wales where there are some fantastic chaplains.
I am thrilled to be co-facilitating our Exploring chaplaincy course at the moment with Fr David O’Malley, whose leadership within the Salesians and wisdom and experience are a real blessing. In our third and final iteration of the course, beginning in May, it is great to have John Meredith, the Diocesan Director of Education for the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon joining me.
Another partnership that is growing as we meet every couple of months, is with Virginia Thomas, National Director of Chaplaincy for the New Testament Church of God. We are both keen to see how we can inspire chaplaincy in education to grow within this denomination and would value your prayers as we do so.
Last week, a fantastic group of leaders joined us for the first planning meeting for the next National Conference for School and College Chaplains. Our next meeting in April will draw even more of us together as we look to inspire, encourage and support you all – do let us know your ideas for the conference we always love hearing your ideas.
