A recent Anglican prayer for the day begins: “Almighty God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you..” Salman Rushdie said: ‘I don’t have a God, but I have a God-shaped hole inside of me’, and many people concur with him. We do seem to have been made that way so we are all seeking after God, which these days is often expressed as ‘being spiritual but not religious’.

Churches do a good job inviting people to meet with God through their many varied activities.  There are regular and special services conducted along with playgroups, foodbanks, events and courses.

Chaplains in the town have a supplementary role in meeting others and engaging with people who are not considering God in their lives but who want to talk about issues they have. Especially in the last three years people seem much more open to discussing their lives and are willing to think about God and whether He cares about them.

Chaplains are open about their faith and wear a uniform, which people find reassuring. Many conversations begin as polite engagements which then lead to trust and greater openness. By being friendly and interested in other people Chaplains are able to listen with concern as people unburden themselves.  They can help them put their life and concerns into context, consider their options and maybe offer  suggestions which might help. Chaplains are not founts of all knowledge but empathise and can often signpost people to where more help is available. This could include referring people to a local church; we are looking to strengthen links with local churches. We also offer to pray for people, or even pray with them; the invitation is usually welcomed.

Conversations are confidential so we cannot share too much. However, we can say that we are made very welcome in many shops in town, at the Magistrates’ Court and elsewhere and we have got to know people by meeting them regularly in the streets.

If your church or fellowship would like someone to speak about the Town Chaplaincy, we would be delighted to do so. At a Sunday service we are happy to give a 5 minute introduction and then talk afterwards to anyone interested in learning more. Just send an email or leave a phone message to arrange it!

The prayer continues “pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself”. May that be a prayer for ourselves and also for others, that all may know the peace that God gives us through Jesus Christ.

John

John Hayward

Chair of Trustees

Prayer Points

Your prayers are valued for:

• casual meetings, which God seems to engineer, to enable Chaplains to speak to people in their need.
• the regular visits we make.
• There are more opportunities to engage with people than we can manage so we need more help.
• The death of Her Majesty has led to conversations about faith, loyalty and death.
• Christmas will provide more opportunities to talk about God’s initiatives of love.
• Some of our oldest Chaplains have retired after several years of service.
• We are blessed with good offices in the town centre and would be grateful for prayer that our office lease agreement can be renewed with the rent set at an affordable level.

Basingstoke Town Chaplaincy
Suite 1, Paddington House
Festival Place, Basingstoke, RG21 7LJ

admin@basingstoketownchaplaincy.org.uk
basingstoketownchaplaincy.org.uk
01256 842232

Some days are bright and sunny, like today as I write which is the Summer Solstice, other days are damp and chilly, like Saturday for the One Church programme in Eastrop Park. Our moods often reflect the weather or are in response to the joys and stresses of life. But life under a loving God is worth celebrating, and each day can be used to support others.

The Chaplaincy thanked Alan Casebow for his 12 years of service as a chaplain and the Basingstoke Gazette wrote up an interview with him which can be seen here:

https://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/20209791.basingstoke-chaplain-stepping-position-12-years/

He has been an encouragement to us and visited the Age Concern café each week until Covid came along.

We are in the final stages of training 3 more chaplains who will be wonderful additions to our team. Erioluwa, Adeleke and Odunola are members of Praise Embassy church and want to bring God’s love to others. We are continuing to look for more chaplains so that we can better meet people who want to talk to us; we are being invited to places but have no one to go.

We are getting better known around the town through our presence in the streets, our attendance at different events and also from newspaper articles.

We particularly value your prayer support and that of churches. We continue to seek closer links with churches so that we can encourage some people to return to their former faith and church attendance.  Being able to refer them to a contact in a suitable church makes all the difference.

Thank you for your support and prayers; we value your journey with us.

John

John Hayward

Chair of Trustees

Prayer Points

Your prayers are valued for:

1. Tricia, Pam, Martha, Judith, Mary, Malcolm and Shelagh building trusting relationships with shop workers through regular visiting. Pray for wisdom to provide good support.
2. Tim, Shelagh, Pam and Eric engaging with people attending Court, whose unwise choices have often resulted from their own difficult circumstances.
3. The police and Court staff who face challenging emotional issues and circumstances in their daily work; and our chaplain Peter who, with others, needs particular sensitivity in supporting the police.
4. Both Malcolms, chaplains at the bus station, and for the links with chaplains at other bus stations.
5. Our new chaplains, their training and the recruitment others.
6. The financial generosity of our supporters enabling this mission to continue.
7. People who have asked for our prayers in confidence because of troubles, illness or relationship problems.
8. Those seeking God, that they will find in Jesus Christ the Saviour and friend they need.

We know that Christmas 2020 is over, we are in the New Year and that Christmas 2021 is still 11 months away! However some of you may have missed our unique Christmas Special with Doug Horley and friends. So why not snuggle up with your kids under a duvet, open one last box of mince pies and enjoy this unusual retelling of the Christmas story. What could be better to while away those long dark evenings. Enjoy.