The Rev’d Barbara Howard, Chaplain at John Hunter Hospotal, writes about the role of Chaplaincy and how we can all work towards being a Missional Church.

Has it ever occurred to you that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams may have been inspired by the story of Philip and the Ethiopian as recorded in Acts chapter 8.

What are the elements of the Acts account?  You have Philip, like Arthur Dent, unexpectedly transported through space, finding himself in an alien environment with an unusual companion, searching for the answer to the Ultimate Question: the meaning of life. 

The purpose of the Acts account is, however, very different from Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide. In Acts the intention is to show how the mission of the Christian Church spread out from Jerusalem.  In the Philip story we see the effectiveness of one approach to communicating the Gospel which could well be called “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Mission”.

This approach is particularly important for me in my work as a hospital chaplain as it constitutes a kind of blueprint for the chaplaincy ministry.

What are the elements of the story as told by the writer of Acts?  There’s, of course, the hitchhiker, Philip, and the person who gives him a lift, the Ethiopian eunuch.  But there are other crucial elements- they’re on a deserted road, out there in the wilderness. 

The two men are not only strangers, they are of different races, different nationalities, different social status.  What brings them together?  It’s the question that’s being asked by the Ethiopian.

It’s his spiritual hunger and the questions he is asking that enables these two very different people meeting in most unlikely circumstances to make a connection with each other. It’s a brief connection. 

They then go their separate ways. But their brief time together is of enormous significance.  It is life changing for the Ethiopian and it provides opportunities for the spread of the gospel in a wholly new direction.

Encapsulated here, then, is the essence of chaplaincy.  Like Philip, chaplains are hitchhikers who, in unwelcoming, unlikely places, seek to hitch a ride with total strangers, in order to discuss the meaning of life.  Their encounters are often brief but they can be life changing and they can have ripple effects far beyond the place where they occurred.

It’s in the desolate inhospitable places of our society that chaplaincy ministry usually occurs. In prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, dementia units, military bases, refugee areas and juvenile justice centres. 

They’re the places where few people feel comfortable and they are avoided by many Christians. But it is in empty, barren places that people have time to think. That was clearly what the Ethiopian was doing. And so he was open to Philip’s offer to come on board. Chaplaincy ministry takes us to the hard, stony wilderness places of life. 

It takes us into areas where many are reluctant to venture, yet it’s in those wilderness places that we encounter people who have time to think or whose circumstances force them to ask the really difficult questions.   

It is significant that Philip and the Ethiopian were strangers.  They were enormously different, in race, background, education, influence.  Yet they were able to connect because they met at a point of need.  That’s the power of chaplaincy ministry.

People with time on their hands or confronted by tragedy or by the consequences of their actions can become aware of their need.  They are therefore open to anyone, however unlikely and however different from themselves, who will be willing to sit down with them and explore the questions they are asking.

It’s usually a person who won’t be put off by difference in  background or education or age, and who certainly won’t be put off by anger or abuse or tears or hysteria or by bad language.

In the hospital, for instance, I frequently hear the question, variously disguised, “Would God really accept me? Have I burned my bridges by what I’ve done or haven’t done? Have I lost my chance or is there still hope for me?”. From different backgrounds, with different belief systems, we can still meet at the point of need that is occasioned by illness, trauma or life crisis.

Finally, there are the questions being asked by the Ethiopian: “What does this mean?  What’s it all about?” These are the questions being asked by patients, relatives, prisoners, high school students, young offenders, nursing home residents. They are evidence of the deep spiritual hunger that is out there in the community.

Chaplains have wonderful opportunities to hitchhike their way into the lives of spiritually hungry people to talk about questions of ultimate meaning.  In my ministry, I find that these discussions usually happen when someone is facing a major trauma.

The chaplain’s arrival can sometimes precipitate a bursting of the dam wall and out comes a flood of why’s, what if’s.  Those are the priceless, irreplaceable times when the meaning of life can be talked about and the good news of Jesus can be not only spoken but also heard. Those are the times when spiritual hunger can be fed with the Bread of Life.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Mission, found in Acts chapter 8, is an important guide for me as a chaplain but it’s also an essential component of the overall mission of the Christian church. 

We may not all be chaplains but we all have the opportunity to meet spiritually hungry strangers in desolate places, strangers who are open to discovering that it is the gospel of Jesus that speaks to them in their moment of need and that feeds their spiritual hunger.

In what could never have been imagined only a generation ago, the clergy of our diocese gathered together with the clergy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle on May 15 for the fourth annual Joint Clergy Day.

They were joined by Bishop David Walker, Bishop Michael Malone (Roman Catholic Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle), Bishop Brian Farran (and Bishop Graeme Rutherford.

The first part of the day was lead by Professor Trevor Waring, Chancellor of the University of Newcastle, who gave a very rich talk exploring the social psychology of contemporary society.

Based on those reflections he suggested that the Christian Churches need to particularly respond to the key issues of people’s need for belonging and connection, people’s search for meaning, and their desire for spirituality.

After lunch the attention of the meeting turned to covenanting. A covenant is simply a formal written statement of commitment between different Christian communities to engage in certain areas of common action or collaboration. As a written document it stands as a witness not only to the Christian community but also to the wider secular community of the ecumenical spirit that now pervades and directs the Christian Churches.

Local covenants between parishes now exist in a number of areas and the first part of the afternoon involved a sharing from the clergy from those areas about the impact and power of the covenant on the local community.

The final part of the day was led by the bishops themselves and was devoted to the exciting prospect of a Diocesan Covenant between our three dioceses (and two Churches).

The draft covenant was enthusiastically and unanimously welcomed by the clergy present (with loud applause) and, after further consultation within the three dioceses, the Bishops hope that the covenant might be formally signed in a liturgical celebration later this year.

A copy of the draft covenant can be seen by visiting Liturgical Resources.

Fr Colin Blayney

On the weekend of May 12 and 13, Bishop Brian Farran and the Rev’d David Battrick visited Taree to inform us about and to support the vision of Ministering Communities in Mission.

A full program had been planned and there was a good attendance at all events.   On Saturday the day began with morning tea and a “Morning with the Bishop”. Bishop Brian addressed the gathering and referred to the people gathered as the “saints” in today's church in the same way that St Paul wrote to the Corinthians in his first letter to the people of that city who were the “saints” of the early church.

Bishop Brian further encouraged us by telling us we are not volunteers, as we so often think of ourselves, but we are people with a vocation and that vocation is to ministry in its many forms.   To each one of us a gift has been given and it is our responsibility to use that gift for the benefit of others.

Fr David spoke of the training and resources the Diocese has in place to support this move from being in “maintenance mode” to becoming Ministering Communities in Mission.

Members of Parish Council assembled at the rectory for a Bring and Share lunch and Fr David offered further pointers in relation to the many ways we need to utilise in order to effect this change.   Many questions were asked but the mood was positive.

During the afternoon the Bishop conducted a Bible Study for members of the various home groups.   The Bishop focused on 1 Corinthians 12 and the image Paul created of wholeness.   No part of the body is complete without all the other parts and so it is with the church – all are equally important.

A barbecue for young families was organised for Saturday evening in the Latham Centre at St John's.   There was an excellent attendance and the Bishop spoke briefly to that group about his personal experiences as a younger person.

At 7.30am on Sunday morning the Bishop celebrated the Eucharist at St Thomas's church at Cundletown.   The Bishop noted with interest that it was in 1996 when the last Bishop was present at St Thomas's, so it was quite an occasion for members of that congregation.

From St Thomas's it was back to St John's in Taree to celebrate the Eucharist at the parish church at 9am and thence to share morning tea with parishioners afterwards.

What a wonderful weekend of activities we shared and we feel blessed to have had both Bishop Brian and Fr David in our midst.   We look forward to another visit at some time in the not too distant future.

Beryl Fenwick