2019-Wesley-Mission-Annual-Report - Flipbook - Page 37
Being the hands
and feet of Jesus
Joanna shares her insights into
her multi-faceted role of a Wesley
Mission Chaplain.
Jo provides pastoral care to anyone connected to
Wesley Mission’s services for families and children,
including clients, staff, congregation members and
volunteers.
She’s in a unique position to do so, having
previously worked with children in out of home care
as a case manager for Wesley Dalmar. “It was
amazing. It gave me a love for Wesley Mission,
which has actually led me into the role I’m doing
now,’ Jo says.
It’s a role Jo describes as exciting and challenging…
“Exciting, because it’s pioneering ground that’s not
always done in a lot of organisations.
“Challenging because you can sit with very
vulnerable, broken people. And you get to hear
stories of people’s inner world, and they trust you.”
…and exciting again…
“… because every day’s fresh and new. And I wake
up each day, and I spend time praying God’s word
and I say, ‘God, use me today for whatever that
looks like’.”
So what exactly does that look like? In an
organisation as diverse as Wesley Mission,
36
“You’ve got to treat
describing the role of a chaplain is not such a simple
task. The scope of our chaplaincy services is wide,
and quite distinct from those in other organisations.
Here, Jo shares three important aspects of how she
does her job:
Being a confidential, listening ear
“Every day can look very different… my role is
working with the staff, with the managers, however
they need me that particular day.
“There was a situation where a staff member had a
child who was very unwell, and I was able to sit with
them in the hospital. Spend time with them.
Organise meals for them. Practical help, which
made a really big difference.”
“I might be brought into a situation where there’s a
crisis, where there’s people that don’t have a faith,
but I find in that role, bringing my faith into that
situation, it might not be verbally speaking the
gospel, but it might be me coming alongside and
just showing love to a person, showing love to a
family that’s maybe broken down. And not judging.”
“You’ve got to treat every person as an individual,
and I think sometimes people just need to talk and
speak with you, and you just need to listen…
Sometimes people actually just need you to be that
confidential listening ear.”
it as part of my role to bring Jesus deep into what
we do.
“I might just be in a simple meeting where maybe
someone asks a question about the church and I
get to subtly come alongside them and offer the
services of Wesley Congregational Life.
every
person as an individual, and I
think sometimes people just need
talk and speak with you,
and you just need to listen…”
to
“Or we might be in a meeting where we’re
brainstorming, needing volunteers, and my role that
day might be actually going, ‘Yeah well, we’ve
actually got a church with amazing people who’d
love to come and help do that’.”
Building bridges between church and
community
“I think that God is saying we are one church, and if
we can link forces as one church, then we’ll have a
bigger impact in the city of Sydney, in Australia.
“Wesley Mission has got so much to offer the local
church. We’ve worked out ways to link in with the
community and I think most local churches that I
know, have got a heart for community, but they
don’t always know how to do it.
“We’re trusted in the community, we’re trusted by
politicians, we’re trusted by key leaders, and we
deliver great work… if someone comes into the care
of Wesley Mission, there’s a trust that they’re going
to be well looked after.”
Connecting our congregations and our
community services
“I love the fact that we have a Word and deed
ministry within Wesley Mission, and I guess I look at
37