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This is a text-only version of an article first published on Monday, 24 November 2014. Information shown on this page may no longer be current.
Those of you who have already met me will know how passionate I am about the work of chaplains in the workplace.
I'm passionate because the church goes to where people are, going out to their places of work, not waiting in a church on a Sunday morning for new people to come through the doors.
After all, wasn't Jesus one of the first workplace Chaplains, going out to fishermen, tax collectors, farmers and women going about their daily chores?As I come to my first year of being a Workplace Chaplain in High Wycombe, I hope that I've helped give it a new lease of life.
We now have a new name 'Wycombe Workplace Chaplaincy', an updated logo, and a strategy so that people in workplaces and in the town, can see the chaplaincy as a trained and proficient organisation.
This hopefully will enable us to achieve a higher profile in the town. We now have new leaflets, cards and IDs and we had a re-launch in September in the town's library.
I believe the way forward is to have dedicated chaplains.
In other words to have a chaplain responsible for one or two stores, where they will be recognised and trust will grow. We are just about to begin training more chaplains.
As I look back on my first year, it's a role that I see as a privilege.
Most of the work is about 'being' rather than 'doing'.
It's about building relationships and trust.
It's about being proactive, and being there for people who don't know 'Church' or 'Christianity', but most of all it is about sharing God's love with everyone.
It's my work and it's my role and I love it!
The Revd Alison Finch is the leader of the Wycombe Workplace Chaplains.