GP Chaplaincy Update - Sarah Gough

I am thankful for the prayers and support from the St John’s Church family as I continue to work to develop the field of GP / Primary Healthcare Chaplaincy, alongside Ross and Liz Bryson and Fiona Collins.

We have seen God answer many prayers this year as our Primary Healthcare Chaplaincy services in Northfield (with St Heliers Medical Practice) and Tewkesbury have grown significantly. In the last 12 months, over 300 patients have had the opportunity to talk to our chaplains following a referral by their GP. The chaplains provide patients with a safe space to be listened to as they explore issues which may be impacting on their health and wellbeing and help them identify what brings hope, purpose and meaning to their lives. They offer around six 45-minute sessions per patient and typically see them within two to three weeks of their initial referral - a waiting time that is hard to beat within the NHS at the moment!

It is such a privilege to meet people at their point of need and be a Jesus-like presence, journeying alongside as they search for a way through challenges. Please continue to pray for our chaplains as they rely on the Holy Spirit to guide and equip them as they support their patients.

We believe that GP Chaplains are perfectly placed to help address the unmet spiritual needs of so many in our communities, many of whom would not come to church but will go to their GP for support. We continue to seek God’s direction as we strive to develop both our existing services and look for opportunities to start new ones. Please pray for God to open doors for us to have conversations about development, while also keeping us sensitive to the pressures GPs and their teams are facing.

We also continue to trust God for the organisational ‘behind the scenes’ aspects of growing this ministry. We have seen answers to prayer through the provision of much needed additional administrative support in recent weeks as well as perfectly timed donations enabling us to increase the working hours of our Tewkesbury chaplains, just at the point when patient referrals were significantly increasing. These moments reinforce our belief that God is blessing this work and we value your prayers to keep us following His path for the way ahead and for Him to create opportunities for conversations with the ‘right people at the right time’ to join us.