Our latest e-bulletin is published here. Check out news on FE Sunday 15 May, new training for young people in dialogue skills, and much more!

You are warmly invited to join the Centre for Chaplaincy in Education for their Annual Online Commissioning Service for Chaplains in Schools and Colleges.
This event celebrates and recognises the enormous contribution made by chaplains within their school and college communities and seeks to affirm and encourage them as they begin a new academic year.
Join together with leading church dignitaries from all denominations including; the Bishop of Durham, Rev Paul Butler, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Rev Mark Davies, the Vice President of Methodist Conference, Mrs Barbara Easton and the Free Churches Moderator, Rev Hugh Osgood – as well as headteachers, Diocesan Directors of Education, and school pupils from across the UK, to celebrate chaplaincy in education. Together we shall commit ourselves to serve God and the communities to which God has called us.
This is a family service and all are welcome.
Please reserve a seat.bit.ly/CCECom2021
Recently 175 people participated in the webinar Chaplaincy, Wellbeing and Faith, with speakers including Dr Justin Varney, Director of Public Health for Birmingham, and Carol Wilson, Head of Spiritual Care for Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust. You can watch the webinar here. Thanks to Paul Chesterman and David Butterworth of Birmingham Methodist District’s Mission in the Economy team, for sharing this. Their latest newsletter also includes a piece from WM FE Chaplaincy Ambassador Phil Metcalf. Sign up for this newsletter by emailing paul.chesterman[at]birminghammethodist.org.uk.
Wednesday 1 July 2020, 10.00-11.30 on Zoom.
Book now for this FREE virtual workshop for FE and 6th Form chaplains on supporting your college after lockdown.
Register here (advance booking helpful, so that we know how many to expect). This workshop has been planned by members of WMCFEC, Centre for Chaplaincy in Education, Festive and Chaplaincy Central.
We’re delighted to launch 5 short YouTube videos introducing Further Education and Chaplaincy. They’re ideal for showing to churches and groups of faith leaders interested in offering chaplaincy. Films 3 and 4 can also introduce to colleges what chaplains do.
The films have been produced by the talented people at Mazo Creative Agency, and have been made in partnership with 3 local colleges: North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, Halesowen College and Burton and South Derbyshire College. We’re very grateful for all their help!
Watch all 5 films here:
Come along to North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College on 22 November for the launch of new standards for chaplaincy with children and young people, developed by the Institute of Children, Youth and Mission, Admission is by ticket – click on this eventbrite link to book.
Lana Silk is Chaplain at Hereford Sixth Form College. Here’s what she and the college have been up to this year:
This is my first year as a Chaplain. I came into it completely new to the whole world of chaplaincy but with lots of experience in Christian/Church ministry, youth work and a background in marketing which I have found an invaluable tool. I am an ecumenical Chaplain which means I’m not here just for the Christians. I’m here for people of ‘all faiths and none’. But that’s just how I like it! I want people to be able to come to me with any and all faith related issues/questions.
I want the CU to be envisioned for their campus. I want them to be believing and praying for God to use them and to do amazing things around them. I want to equip and encourage them, then enable them to act… (see point 3 below).
In everything we have put on, we have made sure the college knew the CU was behind it. Here are the tips I have picked up:
Social Action
In the Spring our adopted charity, together with the Student Representation Committee, was the Red Box Project in Hereford, which tackles Period Poverty amongst young people in education. To raise the profile, I set up a term-long display and donation point right by the student common room, a large cake sale, a selfie-video of me explaining the initiative to the student body and inviting them to be part of what became a college-wide initiative (the video was 3 minutes and was played in all Education for Life lessons with overwhelmingly positive feedback – an added bonus was that it also introduced me again to the students!), posters, digital board displays, Facebook posts and emails, all reaffirming the same message: we as a college are getting behind Hereford Red Box Project and we want you to help us make a huge contribution to our community; we want to be a valuable member of our community here. The result was a massive measurable impact on our community (8 boxes across different schools and youth clubs all sponsored by us), and a piece in the local press (I wrote the article and provided a picture which we sent to the Hereford Times to use)
Our summer term charity was a shorter initiative due to exams but it was still a huge success. The Christian Union worked with the Environmental Group on this one, and we adopted the Size of Herefordshire Project which protects areas of rainforest from destruction. We had an ‘environmentally friendly’ sale and raised enough money so that, together with fund matching, we ensured 1285 acres of Amazonian rainforest were safe from destruction.
In short, I don’t think we can preach the love of Jesus without BEING the love of Jesus. My objective this year has been to serve the college where I work, enable them to contribute to their community, and giving them a voice when they want to respond to those they sympathise with. I have also wanted to give the CU a voice. How can we share what is on our heart, if people don’t even know we are there? We will make a big event of induction and fresher’s fayre this year, and next year, though we will continue to do all that we have been doing this year, we will be in a position to host more events that invite people to talk about the reality, the love and the role of God in our lives. We have some fun things planned.
Eighteen current and aspiring chaplains and colleagues from the region gathered in Birmingham on 15 May for a day of stimulating input, networking and sharing good practice – the largest gathering of FE chaplains in the region for some years!
The Church of England’s national FE and HE Advisor Revd Garry Neave surveyed the contemporary landscape of FE chaplaincy: colleges were facing tough challenges but being adaptable and resilient in the midst of them.
He sketched out a vision for contemporary chaplaincy as invitational and ambassadorial, with chaplains as representatives ‘of the best of those who sent you’ and interpreters of the language of faith in a college context, and of the further education sector to the churches.
Professor Trevor Cooling (Chair of the RE Council) helped us explore how spiritual development may appropriately take place within often-secular settings, outlining an approach centred on people rather than issues, character as well as skills, and on allowing respectful exploration of difference rather than seeking to deny diversity or relegate it to the private sphere.
In the afternoon chaplains got together into local clusters to network and share the highs and lows of chaplaincy. We’re hoping that these local clusters might continue and grow so that they provide a support network for FE chaplains on a more sustainable basis. If you’d like to be part of a local cluster, contact Phil Metcalf for more details.
Delegates gathered again at the end of the day to hear stories of chaplaincy and good practice. Revd Mike Mills (coordinator of the new chaplaincy team at South Staffordshire College) shared a good news story about some recent chaplaincy work; Revd Canon Hazel Charlton (part-time chaplain at Halesowen College) told the story of setting up an Animal Cafe at the college; Revd Steve Blyth (North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College) related the chaplaincy’s involvement in assembling food hampers for students in need, and the annual Christmas Day brunch.
It was a great day, generously supported by the Westhill Endowment and St Peter’s Saltley Trust. But we hope it won’t be the last. Keep an eye on this bulletin and WMCFEC’s events page for details of future training opportunities.
Want to read more about the experiences of real-life FE chaplains in Birmingham? The Churches and Industry Group Birmingham (CIGB)’s latest annual report features a review of FE Chaplaincy at Bournville and South & City College Birmingham. Scroll down to pp. 12-13 of the report to read about chaplaincy at the college’s campuses at Longbridge and Digbeth.