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THIS WEEK

Micah Sunday

Andy Clasper looks at HIV in Zambia p5

Interim pastors When the Texans rode into Hamsterley p10

THE BAPTIST TIMESThursday, October 11, 2007

Warm hearts out in the cold

Running Verity Dent is racing against Bible poverty p13

Millais A magical exhibition at Tate Britain p20

News .............p3 Feature ............p5 Local news .........p6 Comment...........p8 Outside Edge........p9 Rackley’s reflections..p10 Resources .........p12

Feature ...........p13 Classifieds.........p14 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . p17 TV & Radio ........p18 Hazel Southam .....p18 Books ............p19 Final Word.........p20

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Surviving (left to right) - Caddy Thomas (10), Jessica Woodfield (16), Revd Kimberly Jones, Lucy Napper-Harris (17), Oliver Cummings (11), Jo Baker (17 and Lona Thomas (7)

By JENNY WILLIAMS

YOUNG Baptists from South Wales braved bleak conditions last weekend during a 48-hour slum survival challenge, raising over £900 for charity. The group from Llanishen Baptist Church - the youngest only seven - left behind home comforts in a bid to raise awareness of approximately one

billion people living in slums around the world. Slum Survivor is a national challenge set by Tearfund and Soul Survivor, who are hoping to highlight the deprivation suffered by the world’s poorest. The Llanishen group survived in self-made shelters, with basic rations. They washed outdoors with cold water and completed a string of challenges

throughout the weekend. The Revd Kimberly Jones, youth minister at Llanishen said, ‘The young people have learned so much about the extreme conditions people all over the world are living in on a day to day basis. ‘They took this challenge to heart and the reality of the extreme conditions people have to live in has hit home.’

Seventeen-year-old Lucy Napper-Harris, who took part in the challenge, said, ‘We are fortunate - if our slum is knocked down it doesn’t make that much of a difference to us. ‘For people who do not have anything else, this must be devastating.’ For more information on Slum Survivor, go to www. slumsurvivor.org

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October 11,2007
THE BAPTIST TIMES Thursday, October 11, 2007

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Hospital chaplains axed to cut costs, says report

By DANIEL GROTE

CHAPLAINCY services in hospitals across the country are being subjected to drastic cutbacks, according to new research from a Christian think tank. Up to a quarter of NHS trusts have made major cuts to their chaplaincy provision in the past two years, according to figures released by Theos. Chaplaincy care across the NHS has been reduced by more than 54,000 hours a year since 2005, according to the findings based on reports from 198 trusts in England.

Trusts have cut their chaplaincy services by an average of 19 hours per week, with one –Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust – slashing more than 50 per cent of its chaplaincy hours. A trust spokesperson said that two ‘whole time equivalent’ posts had been lost due to retirement, adding that ‘as we are in deficit, we have not recruited to these posts’. The Theos research reveals for the first time the extent of chaplaincy cutbacks in NHS hospitals, and follows warnings from the College of Healthcare Chaplains (CHCC) in February

that the service was under ‘systematic and brutal attack’. CHCC had compiled a list of chaplaincy service cuts throughout England, but did not reveal it because of the pressure it would put on those working in threatened services. The extent of the cuts is also likely to be news to the Government, which does not collect information on chaplaincy in the NHS, and leaves it in the hands of Trusts. CHCC president the Revd Dr Chris Swift said that he was nevertheless ‘surprised’ at the extent of the cuts revealed in the research, which presented

the fullest picture yet of the state of hospital chaplaincy. ‘The very welcome Theos research backs up what we have been saying for 18 months –that the NHS chaplaincy service has been hit by cuts imposed by NHS managers who view the chaplains as “a soft target”,’ he said. NHS trusts were shying away from making chaplains redundant, he said, preferring to abolish existing vacancies. Baptist minister the Revd Hedley Feast retired from his post as chaplain to Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals a year early after pressure from the Trust to

reduce his hours, he said. Eleven chaplaincy sessions a week were lost at the Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust – the third highest loss. Mr Feast said the human resources department at the Trust saw chaplains as ‘an unnecessary extra’. ‘They have little feeling for it – human resources was looking for ways to squeeze us out – they had little or no idea of what we did,’ he said. But the Revd Philip Sutton, head of chaplaincy for the hospitals, said that the situation ‘is nowhere near as alarmist as the report makes out’. Pointing to the effect of

closure of one of the Trusts’s hospitals earlier in the year on chaplaincy needs, he said that the report ‘is just about numbers’ and couldn’t give the full story. He welcomed the research, saying that it raised ‘an important debate’ about how chaplain account for their time to hospital managers. ‘If we are fully engaged, then the work is understood,’ he said. ‘That’s something that can inform the whole of the Church, and it is an important thing we need to focus on, rather than being over-defensive.’

By DANIEL GROTE

Zara’s ace, say Kirby Muxloe members Star line-up of speakers for next year’s Assembly

A LEICESTERSHIRE church was yesterday rallying to the support of a young member of its congregation hoping to scoop a gold medal at the Special Olympics in China. Zara Jurenko (20) yesterday faced Karla Galan of El Salvador in the final of the women’s singles, while back home Kirby Muxloe Free Church prayed for her success. Miss Jurenko on Tuesday won a silver medal in her women’s doubles group, after she and partner Lucy Pethig lost out to Chinese opponents Yan An and Qinghua Lin in the final. She was looking to boost her medal tally with a win on Wednesday, but the results were not available as The Baptist Times went to press. Zara’s mother Gillian Jurenko said that she was ‘ever so proud’ that her daughter had won a silver in the doubles tournament. Speaking before Wednesday’s singles final, Mrs Zurenko said she would be nervous but ‘rooting for her’. ‘It’s all happened very quickly, but we’ve all been praying for her,’ added Kirby Muxloe minister the Revd Bob Almond.

GettyImages / Julian Finney

Hard-hitting - Zara in action earlier this year at a training weekend

Call to support marriage Leprosy Mission windfall

By TOM RICHES

CHRISTIAN charity CARE has called for the Government to do more to support marriage in the wake of new statistics showing an increasing number of couples favouring cohabitation over marriage. New figures show that the proportion of married couples has decreased from 76 per cent of families in 1996 to 71 per cent in 2006. In the same period the proportion of cohabiting couple families increased from nine per cent to 14 per cent. The Office for National

Statistics figures also suggest that married couples are healthier and live longer. Their children can expect to stay in education for longer. Dan Boucher, director of parliamentary affairs at CARE, said the new statistics had implications for Government policy, adding that it gave Christians ‘the opportunity of highlighting the importance of government removing the perverse incentives in the tax credit and wider benefits system which currently encourage parents with children to live apart.’

By TOM RICHES

CHRISTIAN charity The Leprosy Mission (TLM) has received a boost for its work in the developing world, thanks to proceeds from this year’s Concert for Diana. The organisation has seen its coffers swell by £150,000 after Princes William and Harry pushed for it to be given money from the concert. TLM acting national director Keith Nicholson said, ‘We are absolutely delighted with this news. An amount of £150,000 will mean that an

enormous number of people can be cured of leprosy and not suffer the stigma all too often associated with the disease. ‘Now that we know the amount involved we will be looking at funding a specific project which will make a significant difference to the lives of many people affected by leprosy,’ he added. The Leprosy Mission has paid tribute to Diana’s contribution to the fight to remove the stigma attached to the disease, which still affects many people worldwide.

REGULAR Thought for the Day contributor Dr Elaine Storkey is among the speakers for next year’s Baptist Assembly, announced this week. Dr Storkey, president of Tearfund, was until last month a research fellow at Wycliffe College in Oxford, before she left together with two other senior academic staff members, as the controversy that has dogged the College under the leadership of the Revd Dr Richard Turnbull rumbled on. She is joined on the list of Assembly speakers by leading climate expert Sir John Houghton, a former head of the Met Office who has also served on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working group. Sir John, a former member of Kidlington Baptist Church, was in May this year among 37 scientists who unsuccessfully

tried to block the release on DVD of the controversial documentary The Great Global Warming Swindle, which claimed global warming is nothing to do with greenhouse gas emissions. Dr Vinoth Ramachandra, who has served for many years on the International Council of Christian environmental charity A Rocha, has also been invited to speak at the Assembly by BMS World Mission. Other speakers at next year’s Assembly are BUGB general secretary the Revd Jonathan Edwards, BMS general director the Revd Dr Alistair Brown, and BUGB vice president the Revd Dr John Weaver. The 2008 Baptist Assembly will take place at the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool on May 2-5. Further details can be found at: www.baptistassembly.org. uk.

Aid charities praise Britain’s spending

CHRISTIAN aid organisations have welcomed a recent rise in UK spending on aid but say they are concerned that the Government may not meet future targets. New figures released last week by the Department for International Development (DFID) show that Britain is now the world’s second largest aid donor after a 12 per cent rise in spending in the past year. ‘We welcome this announcement as a sign that the UK is committed to keeping its promises,’ said Jonathan Spencer, a Tearfund spokesman. ‘We now need to see at least the same level of increase – 12 per cent annually - until 2010,’

he added. The rise has seen the UK’s spending increase by more than £800 million in the past year to £7.5 billion, putting it second only to the United States. The Government currently spends approximately 0.5 per cent of Gross National Income on aid and it says it is committed to meeting the 2015 target of 0.7 per cent two years ahead of schedule. Olivia McDonald, senior policy advisor for Christian Aid, welcomed the increase but she questioned the Government progress towards meeting the 2015 target. ‘The question is about where we are going now – whether the Government hits 0.7 per cent,’ she said.

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