Joy Abel is a former nurse who volunteers at Reading Coroner’s Court, providing pastoral support at inquests.
Sadness, anger, family feuds… these are just some of the things Joy faces as she supports families, friends and witnesses who have to attend an inquest. She begins by trying to set them at ease. There’s practical information about court procedures to be shared, toilets to be signposted and the offer of a cup of coffee.
She might be with a suited professional or a homeless person, yet Joy is always aware that she is dealing with a whole person – body, mind and spirit.
"Nobody is an appendix"
This way of seeing people takes Joy back to when she trained as a nurse in the 60s. Matron would reprimand nurses who saw people in terms of their condition: “Nobody is an appendix in bed 6.”
I am surprised to hear that in those days a hospital shift at the Royal London Hospital began with nurses saying the Lord’s Prayer.
Today, Joy values the work her fellow volunteers do, whether they are Christians or not, but she reflects that:
“I’m never alone in what I do… I have the strength of the Lord with me as I am working.”
She prays to be given the right words – or for God to keep her mouth shut if that is what’s needed. She can’t take away what has happened in the past, but she can walk alongside those who seek her support. At the end of each day she offers her notes to God in prayer.
Body, mind, spirit
As we chat, we keep returning to the difference it makes seeing people as body, mind and spirit. When she volunteered as a Street Pastor Joy knew “nobody is just a drunk on a street”. But there was a price to pay for that work. The answer to “What makes you want to be a Street Pastor?” was not “Because I love working with drunk people!”
There have been other challenges for Joy as a Christian. About ten years ago she was part of an ecumenical church project which was slowly dying. Repeated visits to the Abbey Centre on the Scottish island of Iona gave her faith a boost, but she kept getting dispirited when returning home. Joy eventually walked away from the project, thinking she was close to losing her faith.
She then discovered St Barnabas, Emmer Green.
“It blew my mind and gave me the ‘kick up the bum’ I needed.”
Enhancing the lives of the community
Today she continues to get the spiritual support she needs at St Barnabas. Each week the church will pray for people’s needs at various services and by an email prayer chain of about 20 people. When a close family member had a serious diagnosis, Joy and her husband were aware of being held by others in prayer.
Joy’s work has been recognised outside church circles. She received the High Sheriff’s Award for Volunteer Services for “your part in enhancing the lives of the community”. Yet Joy sees her work in this way: “I’m given gifts by God, and I want to use them.”
Words: Ruth Hamilton-Jones
Photo: Emma Thompson