i) South Chadtown Acute Unit Chaplaincy Covenant
Background
The desire and commitment to work together in Christian partnership has emerged out of our present working experience of Christians from different traditions working together for the benefit of the Hospitals that form the South Chadtown Acute Unit. We represent the Churches in our institution from a variety of traditions: The Roman Catholic Church, The United Reformed Church, The Church of England, The Baptist Union, The Methodist Church and the German Lutheran Church.
Basis
We, the members of the Chaplaincy to the South Chadtown Acute Unit, wish to commit ourselves in a personal covenant, with the backing of our denominations and District Health Authority, to serve within its Hospitals.
We believe an ecumenical pattern of working more fully embraces the creative love of God the Father, the reconciling love of God the Son, and the expressive love of God the Holy Spirit, and further empowers the Church’s mission.
We accept the need to respect the religious, spiritual, sacramental and cultural values of all who make up the hospital community and to respond sensitively to them.
We confess that shared ministry is limited by matters of doctrine and patterns of worship and pledge ourselves to deeper understanding and tolerance. Therefore we commit ourselves to a deepening of our partnership and understanding.
Aims
To enhance the quality of care offered to all who form part of the hospital community by expressing the unity of the Chaplaincy Team whereby, offering a diversity of gifts, thereby enabling patients and staff to recognise and respond to the spiritual dimension of life by experiencing the power and love of God, thus enriching the lives of individuals, hospitals and communities.
We pledge ourselves for a period of three years:
- To develop patterns of visiting which make the best use of our gifts and resources
- To seek the views of the hospital community about a shared mission
- To ensure that the Team reflects a variety of Christian traditions.
We therefore agree to work and co-operate in the following ways:-
- To meet regularly to discuss our common mission, and to learn of each other’s traditions and heritage
- To act for each other in the pastoral care of patients, relatives and staff
- To enhance the cross-site cover for ‘on-call’, sickness and holiday cover
- To ensure that all appointments to the Team reflect its aims and ethos.
- To involve the local Churches in our work, in our discussions and to seek their insights.
- To develop shared patterns of non-Eucharistic worship
- To develop ways in which the covenant will be renewed at the end of a three year period.
And to this end we commend each other to the grace of God.
Order of Service extract
Below is set out an extract from the Order of Service to Inaugurate an Ecumenical Covenant for Health Care Chaplaincy, South Chadtown Acute Unit, January 1995
“The Signing of the Covenant
The signing of the Covenant represents acceptance by the Acute Unit and Christian traditions of the place of the Covenant in the life of the Chaplaincy Department and promises the support of the management for the working out of the Covenant in the future.
The Covenant will be signed by:
For and on behalf of:
The Anglican Chaplains
The Free Church Chaplains
The Roman Catholic Chaplains
The Covenant will be endorsed by:
The Diocese of Chadtown of the Church of England
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chadtown
The Free Churches in Chadtown
South Chadtown Acute Unit.”
ii) The Christian Chaplaincy Covenant, Erewhon Hospital: Two-fold Covenant of Chaplains and Nominating Bodies, January 1995
Part 1: CHAPLAINS’ DECLARATION OF INTENT
We, the Christian Chaplains of Erewhon Hospital, confess our common faith in Jesus Christ as Lord, Saviour and healer. We believe that through pastoral care, prayer, worship and the sacraments we are an integral part of the healing process. We will work together, save for those things which we in conscience must as yet do apart, seeing ourselves as equal members of the chaplaincy team.
We now declare together our readiness to commit ourselves to each other under God. Our earnest desire is to become more fully, in God’s own time, the one Church of Christ, united in faith, communion, pastoral care and mission, such unity being the gift of God.
Chaplains’ signatures ………………………… Anglican
………………………… Free Church
………………………… Roman Catholic
STATEMENT OF SUPPORT
On behalf of the management of Erewhon Hospital we affirm our support for the chaplains in their desire to work together for the good of the hospital
Representatives of Hospital Management
…………………………..
……………………………
Part 2: COVENANT BY NOMINATING BODIES
- Title: The name of the agreement is the Erewhon Hospital Chaplaincy Covenant
- Coverage: Erewhon Hospital Chaplaincy serves the patients and staff of Erewhon Hospital in the county of Nottinghamshire
- Nominating Bodies: The parties to this covenant are the Roman Catholic Bishop, the Church of England Bishop and the Free Churches Secretary for Health Care Chaplaincy, to whom the chaplains will submit an annual report.
- The Chaplaincy Team:
- Worship: The chaplains will be encouraged to share in the conduct of worship to the maximum permitted by the nominating bodies.
- Pastoral Care: The chaplains will share in the pastoral care of patients and staff whilst allowing for an individual patient or member of staff to receive the ministry of his/her choice and acknowledging that the care of Roman Catholic patients or staff will primarily be the responsibility of the Roman Catholic Chaplain.
- Maintenance of the Chaplaincy Team: Nominating bodies will pay due regard to the implications of the covenant when making future nominations for the chaplaincy.
- The present composition of the Christian chaplaincy team is one whole-time Anglican Chaplain, one Chaplain’s Assistant (four sessions), one Roman Catholic Chaplain (two sessions) and one Free Church Chaplain (one session).
- This covenant will be reviewed by the nominating bodies every five years or sooner as and if necessary.
- Should any serious problem arise which vitiates the spirit of the covenant it may be terminated by any one of the nominating bodies.
- The nominating bodies believe that greater ecumenical co-operation within the chaplaincy team will be to the benefit of both patients and staff. The nominating bodies will work together with the hospital management in developing further the chaplaincy service at Erewhon Hospital.
On behalf of
Nominating Bodies …………………….. Anglican
…………………….. Free Church
…………………….. Roman Catholic
Dated: