Methodist Forces Board Projects Supporting Armed Forces Chaplaincy 2018-19
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Methodist Forces Board Projects Supporting Armed Forces Chaplaincy 2018-19 Autumn 2019 2 Contents RAF Benson ............................................................................................................... 4 RAF Marham .............................................................................................................. 6 RNAS Culdrose .......................................................................................................... 8 Aldershot Garrison ................................................................................................... 10 Hamworthy Barracks (formerly RM Poole) ............................................................... 12 Northwood Tri Service Headquarters ....................................................................... 15 Shrivenham Station .................................................................................................. 17 JITG Chicksands ...................................................................................................... 19 View from the centre ................................................................................................ 22 Methodist Royal Navy Chaplain Mark Mander, pictured here talking to families at the launch of ‘Underneath It All’, a submarine bedtime story, brought to the UK by the MFB. For more info see p31. Pictured at St. Margaret’s Church, Helensburgh Picture © Navy Media 3 RAF Benson Our Community Pastoral Officer, Beki Stevens, writes, ‘I have now been in post at RAF Benson for a year, and I’ve enjoyed every moment! As a military wife myself I have spent a large part of the year solo-parenting whilst my husband served overseas in the Middle East. This has added interesting challenges personally, but these first-hand experiences of military life have also brought about deeper connections with the families I work with.’ Beki has been helping at a once-a-month all-age service at St Helen’s Anglican church, and also at their new ‘Little Lambs’ toddler service in the week. These are both attended by a growing number of forces families and are a good way to engage them in local church communities. Beki has spoken at Wallingford Methodist Church about her role at RAF Benson, reporting that the congregation were excited to hear about everything God is doing through chaplaincy. The Methodist community has supported Beki in prayer and also supplied enthusiastic volunteers for events such as ‘Messy Church’. Schools work is an aspect which has become a more prominent feature of Beki’s role as the year has progressed. She is now working in three local schools which have a high percentage of military children. She helps to run deployment clubs which the children all enjoy - so much so that Beki says the children often make up deployments in order to attend the club! In one school Beki has been asked to go in once a week to work with a group of children who need some extra support. The group is a place where they have dedicated time which helps the children to feel heard and valued. Beki says, ‘I hope to further expand this aspect of my role in the future, and there are already some exciting new opportunities on the horizon for this academic year.’ Another significant aspect of Beki’s role is the ‘Little Frogs’ toddler group that runs in the church (see pic). Moving to a new station with small children can be incredibly isolating and toddler groups like this provide a place where parents can meet people and make new friends for themselves and their children. For the mums who have lived on station for a while, ‘Little Frogs’ provides consistency and structure to their week. It helps to build a community of parents who support and look out for each other. One mum said, “Little Frogs is such a welcoming and supportive group. It is very well organised with varied activities each week… It’s a lovely group for the children but also a lifeline for the parents.” The role, and ‘Little Frogs’ in particular, give chaplaincy increased visibility in the community, breaking through fears people may have about coming into a church building and adding to the perception of chaplains as caring people - accessible and supportive in times of need. ‘Little Frogs’ brings up conversations which then shape Beki’s one-to-one pastoral support in the community. 4 This year, in consultation with station and with parents on base, chaplaincy decided to run ‘Summer Frogs’. This was a continuation of the ‘Little Frogs’ group one morning a week throughout the summer holidays, catering to all ages. Parents were pleased to have somewhere they could come with children of all ages and know they would be welcomed. It also provided a place for newcomers to get to know their community and helped to reduce the isolation many can feel over the summer holidays. There was a different theme each week, culminating in a very successful ‘Messy Church’ session where chaplaincy gave out free toddler Bibles and ‘Knowing God’ books to all the children (see pic). Beki reports, ‘During my first year in post I have started up a couple of new initiatives at RAF Benson. One is the very popular Story Sack Library. These are bags which parents can borrow, containing a book, toy and game related to an issue they may be facing, eg deployment, moving house etc. This library was funded jointly by the Methodist Forces Board and station welfare.’ One mum said, “I found the story (The Invisible String) helped me to explain that no matter where daddy is, he still always loves them. This idea is brilliant and definitely helped our little family.” (see pic) The story sacks have opened conversations, with people asking Beki for further support if they need it. The prayers in the sacks are a great way to bring God into the picture in a completely non-threatening way, and Beki has been blessed to have some interesting conversations about faith with parents, prompted by the prayers in these bags. Another initiative Beki has pioneered is ‘Deployed Families Support Club’, or ‘Dandelions Club’ as it has become known. This is an after-school drop-in club for families who have a loved-one overseas. A lot of parents had voiced a need for somewhere they could come as a family to talk about the issues surrounding deployment. They wanted some advice on how to support their children through the anger, fear and sadness that often accompanies a long separation, as well as somewhere they could meet other families in the same situation. This has been very positively received by both families and station, who have supplied resources and personnel to help run the group. Beki notes, ‘With God’s help and a lot of great team- work we have enjoyed a very fruitful year.’ Padre Rebekah Cannon had this to say about the impact of the MFB’s gift to RAF Benson: “Chaplaincy at Benson is thriving and Beki's energy and ideas have begun to make a real impact on station life… [and] have meant that pastoral care is being offered through presence and engagement across the Beki hard at work in the Church community.” of the Ascension at RAF Benson 5 RAF Marham Charlie Houlder-Moat is the MFB’s Families Worker at RAF Marham. She writes, ‘It has been a busy and fulfilling year which has focussed on increasing chaplaincy presence and partnering with different organisations to support military families.’ A key focus for Charlie has been to informally support military spouses to run groups and activities themselves. One lady who set up a reading and craft group commented, “I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the support you've given me. You are amazing and such an asset to our community.” Another parent said, “Charlie has been key in setting up a children's clothing exchange which has saved us a lot of money.” This is now running from one of the houses on the military estate. It is run by volunteers from the community and they all help signpost new mums to chaplaincy and chaplaincy events. Another initiative worked out in partnership between Charlie and community members was the launch of the ‘Marham Mardle’ (see pic) in November 2018. This is a chaplaincy hosted monthly coffee morning to welcome people to Marham and share information with them about what is happening in the area - on and off station. A group of volunteers runs the kitchen side to give Charlie the opportunity to welcome others and signpost them to the support available. The ‘Mardle’ now offers ‘stands’ to agencies as diverse as the local hospital, charitable and community groups, station personnel, police, community support and the local pre-school amongst others. Charlie comments that the Mardle has become a place people are signposted to and has been promoted in the RAF Marham station magazine. During the summer Chaplaincy hosted ‘Landlubbers’ holiday club (see pic). One padre commented, “As ever, the event was expertly organised by Charlie. She constantly encourages, amuses and inspires us as a team and it is always good to see her hard work bear fruit and the children and families she works with enjoying the benefits.” Holiday club wouldn’t run without volunteers and one volunteer mentioned, “I want to give back. You’ve supported me so much since I have moved here and didn’t know anyone. You helped me settle into Marham.” ‘Story Sacks’ (see pic), first trialled by Charlie’s colleague at RAF Benson, have been rolled out at Marham with help from a grant provided by the Methodist Forces Board and the RAF Benevolent Fund. There are now 16 sacks - all addressing tricky issues such as deployment and moving house. Since its launch, Charlie has partnered with Marham Community Library to enable the community better access to this wonderful resource. One parent commented, ‘Thank you so much for our bedtime bear ‘Kiss Goodnight’ story sack. We enjoyed making the bear cookies and daddy and mummy enjoyed one or two (or 3 or 4). These story sacks are amazing - it’s the second one we’ve done now.’ 6 ‘Worship in the Woods’ (see pic) has increased in attendance since its launch and has doubled the numbers of the usual church congregation. Chaplaincy have welcomed visits from the local Anglican and Methodist churches.