The BNP in My Back Garden
Posted: Saturday, 24 October 2009
On Thursday night, I was one of the more than 8 million people in Britain who tuned into the BBC's Question Time broadcast to see how Far Right British National Party head, Nick Griffin, fared in this first ever appearance of a BNP representative on the programme.
Only twelve hours later I found myself at the dedication of a new Hindu temple at a Lancashire hospital where I work as a chaplain. Lancashire is one of areas where the BNP has made headway with voters in recent years.
Whether you agree that Griffin should or should not have been included in the Question Time broadcast (I personally feel as the head of a party, with elected representatives in both local government and the European Parliament, the BBC has no right to bar him from participation), it was almost impossible to come away from that broadcast without a very queasy feeling over the divisive lines being drawn because of real and imagined threats within British society.
Thank goodness for Friday morning when I stood square in the middle of a room full of white and brown people, British born and not, wearing hospital scrubs and saris, celebrating the newly refurbished temple open to all who visit and work in the hospital. The temple is one of three worship spaces in the hospital which also includes a mosque and a Christian chapel. After the prayers and speeches, there was warm, delicious food and lots of smiles.
The experience was a vivid reminder that in the midst of all that would foster division and enmity between the people on this island, there are the ordinary, regular, events and relationships that reveal an ongoing and determined reality of cooperation, good will and delight in the diverse cultures and beliefs that make up multicultural Britain.
Hospital Chaplaincy - What is it good for?
Posted: Wednesday, 22 April 2009
I'm a part-time hospital chaplain as well as a journalist. Recent comments by the National Secular Society have done chaplains a big favour, really. The NSS has called for public funding of hospital chaplains to end. As a result doctors, nurses, patients and their families have come out of the woodwork to voice support for the job that specialist hospital chaplains do. Only this morning, BBC Radio 4's Today programme reported that this story has prompted a "massive response" from its audience.
But this NSS challenge also has pushed hospital chaplains themselves to reflect more deeply and articulate more clearly what it is we do and why that work is valuable. And that's no bad thing.
We often talk about our work as being a "ministry of presence". But what does that mean out on the wards or in the A&E at 2am on a Saturday morning?
One thing it means is standing by someone's bedside in desperately sad and difficult circumstances to make sure that patients and their family don't face the unbearable alone.
It also means showing up in a ward or waiting area and saying "hello" on a long, slow afternoon when a patient is bored or down in the dumps or lonely and just plain glad to see someone who doesn't have to take their blood or discuss their bowel habits or change a wound dressing.
A ministry of presence means having the time that almost no other professional does in a hospital setting to be available. We listen, we chat, we come back and see how it's all going, again and again and again. We make the space and time for people to say things they didn't even know they wanted or needed to say until we showed up. We offer support, company and yes, sometimes prayers and rituals. We also have professional knowledge and experience of the NHS in all its strengths and weaknesses that comes in handy. We know our patch well.
The other thing that's worth saying is that we have specialist professional training for doing pastoral care in a hospital setting. I have been a parish minister, responsible for the cradle to grave pastoral care of a large congregation and friends, it's not the same thing. While that parish experience is helpful, the challenges of fulfilling a chaplaincy role in a large public health care institution serving patients and staff of wide ranging beliefs as well as those with none, is a different kettle of fish.
And the specialist training continues on the job, formally through courses and informally through conversation and reflection within chaplaincy teams who routinely support and challenge members to provide the best 24/7 care possible for their hospitals.
So thank you British National Secular Society for opening up a conversation which I hope will continue. Because you are right, we need to know what the heck chaplains do to justify the resources they require. I can't tell you how often I ask myself that very same question as I step on to a ward and see a world of need. But I rarely leave that ward without the answer.
Audio Slide show: A Day in the life of a hospital chaplain
The Church Should Fund NHS Chaplains
The Value of Hospital Chaplains
Union rejects "attack" on NHS Chaplaincy Services
British Teens Made My Inauguration Day
Posted: Tuesday, 20 January 2009
I was up early this morning. Bleary eyed, I stumbled into the studios of BBC Manchester around 7:30am to do a radio interview with breakfast show presenters, Eamonn O'Neal and Dianne Oxberry. I was asked to talk about what American ex-pats living in the North of England would be feeling and doing today on Obama's inauguration day.
I was ushered to a seat in a waiting area with two 13 year-old students from the Manchester Academy school, just down the road. None of us were saying much; everyone seemed nervous about our impending interviews. Their teacher, who introduced herself as "Rachel", explained that students at Manchester Academy had been following the election of Barack Obama. The entire school would be taking part in celebrations to mark his inauguration. The students with her, Jonathan and Nisha, would be telling radio audiences across Greater Manchester what today's events meant to them and their schoolmates.
Still looking anxious, Nisha and Jonathan soon were led off into the inner sanctum of the studio. "You'll be great," I assured them.
They were more than just great. They were amazing. As I listened in from the "waiting couch" I couldn't help but smile ear to ear as I heard Jonathan say that Obama's election not only inspired Americans of all racial backgrounds, but made him, a British born teenager of mixed race, feel he could one day run for elected office in Britain.
Full of poise and confidence, Nisha explained that because her school is place where young people of very different backgrounds meet and "learn about each other", students were hugely interested in Obama's election.
"People in America have seen that race no longer is an obstacle in life for them," said Nisha.
Manchester Academy's head teacher has been giving students weekly updates as the events of the campaign, election and now inauguration have unfolded.
"We've been able to follow him along his journey," said Nisha. "He has inspired a lot of people in my school, especially me."
Coming out of the studio, a mixture of smiles and relief showed on the faces of Nisha, Jonathan and their teacher. They had done brilliantly. They had inspired me thoroughly.
If the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, does nothing more than give birth to this kind of hope, confidence, and belief in the possibility of a better, more inclusive world for these two teenagers - and countless others around the world - that's result we can celebrate; wildly!
Of course Obama will have to follow-up with brave, thoughtful, actions that demonstrate personal integrity and the strength of his convictions. But for today, this is enough to make my day. To see that my new president is already doing such good things in the lives of local young people in Manchester-England, Manchester-Vermont and many other places around the world is, as my son Michael would say, "a well good thing."
I offered Nisha and Jonathan my last two Obama'08 campaign buttons. My son has one too. He's also 13, in the same year at school as Nisha and Jonathan. The students were delighted to accept the buttons. They immediately pinned them to the jacket of their school uniforms and waved good-bye. It almost made me weep.
US Elections
Posted: Thursday, 6 November 2008
I, like so many Americans, feel a combination of overwhelming relief and almost un-containable happiness at the news that Senator Obama has been elected President.
My email box has been full of excited messages from American friends, including one from journalist Ray Waddle confirming that he and many others feel a "deep sense of relief and exhilaration" about the "still scarcely believable result".
But Ray went on to observe something even more important - a national change of heart and mind:
"Barack did not pull off the upset - America did, laying aside some well-rehearsed bad-mouthing and paranoia. America did the right thing and said "no", at least for a day, to allowing fear be the ruling emotion."
This rejection of the politics of fear is something to which people of faith around the world can and should say a very loud "Amen." We then must follow-up with well-resourced, practical action that helps heal divisions, especially those exacerbated by religion.
I believe Obama's victory already is doing a world of good. The day after the election a young Asian man stopped me as I was bagging my groceries to say how different he believed the world will feel with Barack Obama as US President.
"Congratulations!" he said with a huge, enthusiastic smile. "It's fantastic news!"
"Yes it is," I beamed. "It's a very good day."