This edition of Chrism is dedicated to one of the year’s most urgent topics: climate change. In the run up to the COP21 conference, which was held in Glasgow, Holy Rood House in Thirsk, Yorkshire hosted a space for theological reflection on the topic.
We are grateful to the authors of these papers who agreed to publish with us. Together they offer differing perspectives into this complex and emotive topic which interact synergistically to move away from easy answers and into a gentle call to change how we live in order to individually respond to this global threat.
The variety of these papers which include angry demands, music and mysticism, and reflection on direct action, opens up this topic in a powerful way exposing the complexity but also the possibility of creative human responses.
At the Guild of Health and St Raphael we have sought to be actively responsive to the demands of living and ministering faithfully through the pandemic, whether that is in our membership communities, the Healthy Healing Hub project or the podcast. To do this well, we have kept listening to as many people as possible: academics, chaplains, minister and priests, old and young, of all denominations. We have also been working with those who are involved in policy making and the public health agenda through being part of the ChurchWorks commission for Covid recovery and the forums held by FaithAction.
The word trauma started to be used quite early in the syndemic, particularly by those who had experience of other similar emergencies.
And, as I worked with my team in the Healthy Healing Hub project, we had almost a visceral experience of that word trauma getting louder and louder as I listened to stories of anger, confusion, and doubt. Therefore we commissioned a series of papers with FaithAction exploring trauma and pastoral recovery. The first of these papers was launched in February 2022: Resilience, Trauma and Pastoral Recovery and it can be downloaded on our website where you can also watch a recording of the launch event with Prof Christopher Southgate.
The purpose of the papers is to enable faith leaders to get some rapid and concise orientation on the issues of population and community trauma, resilience, self-care and coping during and beyond the pandemic, so they can consider strategies both for their congregations and the wider community. The paper also includes a toolkit for action. The second of these papers will be launched at the Chrism conference in May 2022 – details can be found on page 28. Members log into the website to access a 10% discount code for this event.
Thank you for your support of the mission of the Guild and your engagement with the academic study of healing. I hope that you enjoy this edition.
The Revd Dr. Gillian Straine, Editor and CEO of the Guild of Health and St Raphael
Please note that the journal is a PDF download, not a physical product that would incur postage costs.