The growth in interest and need for community chaplaincy is booming, with Anglican organisations already seeing fruit from opportunities created.
ARV, which provides home-based aged care to more than 1100 people across the Diocese, began offering pastoral visits last year in the Sutherland, St George and Eastern suburbs areas.
This has since been extended and will encompass the rest of the Diocese by the end of 2012.
“God is opening up so many ministry opportunities,” says ARV’s manager of community pastoral care, the Rev Allen Cook. “One of our chaplains visited a client last week... she told a little of her life history and personal beliefs before admitting she hadn’t been to church in years, even though she has lunch opposite her local church regularly. she decided she didn’t have an excuse for not going and that our chaplain’s coming should be the catalyst for returning. “She asked our chaplain to check if she had been the next time she visited. It was just amazing that she brought it up and came to that conclusion herself, without any prompting by us.”
Anglicare in Sydney is also taking the first steps towards deciding on the community care model it should develop. Archdeacon Ken Allen, previously Anglicare’s director of pastoral care, is now dividing his time between Anglicare’s community care centres in Mt Druitt and Penrith, offering pastoral support to staff and community members.
“When your job is to assess someone’s material needs in a time of crisis and attend to a line of others waiting to see you, there is little opportunity to take time for a deeper conversation,” he says. “For those who are in a very hard place their hearts are often heavy and social connection is precious.”
Anglicare hopes that community chaplaincy will not only help connect people with a local church but help churches build awareness of what is happening in their community. Says Archdeacon Allen: “I have a vision for chaplaincy being integrated with services; where community members and staff seek chaplaincy because they know it is a safe place to delve into the hard places of life.The joy for me is to help people see that even in the darkness, Christ is with them.”
Feature photo: sebr
