Leadership Latest - Nov 2006

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Supermarket soul-carers

ASDA supermarket chain has now about 160 chaplains in its stores across the UK as part of a multi-faith initiative described as a “great success”.

Chaplains have become a friendly and familiar face whose role is largely to meet and greet people as they use the supermarket premises to tap into a large section of the population who would not ordinarily go to church. They often listen to customers who need to share life issues, problems in their private lives, in their marriages or in their workplace with someone who cares.

The Asda policy is now to allow its stores to bring in chaplains as and when it is felt appropriate for colleagues (employees) and customers. A company spokesperson said this was very much an Asda initiative which had followed a natural progression through the stores and which “works very well”, with colleagues finding it “exceptionally useful” and resulting in some chaplains becoming members of the store team.

Reported in the Methodist Recorder, 2 November 2006
 

Clergy second happiest at work

When it comes to happiness at work, clergy come second only to hairdressers. The poll, carried out by the Survey Shop for the qualification authority City & Guilds questioned 1249 employees doing 30 different jobs (15 “academic professions” and 15 “vocational occupations”) about their attitudes to work.

In the “Happiness Index”, 40% of hairdressers and 24% of clergy said they were “extremely happy” with their job. Clergy were closely followed by chefs, beauticians, plumbers, mechanics, and builders. Among those admitting to not being happy at their jobs were estate agents, civil servants, architects and social workers.

Reported in the Church Times, 4 March 2005.
 

Faith helps fight dementia

According to research by the Rotman Research Institute religious faith can help prevent the worst effects of dementia and engender “peace of mind”. Researchers found that mental degeneration is 20% slower in adults who have a strong Jewish or Christian faith and practice their religion at home than among non-believers.

Patients with Alzheimer’s may benefit from a better immune system, lower rates of depression, quicker response to acute health crises and less health risking habits like smoking or drinking, if they have spiritual and religious beliefs.

The finding arose from a study of 100 people showing early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common cause of dementia.

Reported in The Church of England Newspaper, 15 April 2005
 

Sense of purpose

A report published by the Commission on Urban Life and Faith in July 2005 highlighted the fact that spirituality provides young people living in towns and cities with a sense of purpose.

The report, which surveyed 30,000 13-15-year-olds in England and Wales, found that:

• Almost three quarters of young people who pray daily have a strong sense of purpose, compared to just 48 per cent of those who never pray.
• Youngsters who pray daily also were more likely to have an active relationship with their community and hold positive views towards ethnic diversity.
• Over half of the youngsters who did not have a sense of purpose in life had considered committing suicide, while eight out of 10 of those who did have a sense of purpose did find life worth living.

Reported in The Church of England Newspaper, 8 July 2005
 

Alpha on the rise

A survey carried out by Ipsos MORI in October 2006 found that:

• a greater percentage of people than ever before – 23% of the adult population – now recognise Alpha as a Christian course
• and nearly half of these people expressed some level of interest in it.

According to figures from the English Church Census:

• 38% of churches (14,250) had run the Alpha Course – more than double the number officially registered
• churches using Alpha have run the course an average 5.6 times
• on average, churches have 28 visitors and 40 church members at each of their Alpha courses
• less than 1% of 24,000 church ministers in England have not heard of Alpha.

The head of Alpha UK, Rebecca Stewart, said: ‘These two surveys are hugely encouraging because they show that not only are the millions of people interested in the course, there are also many more churches running it that we supposed.’

Reported in Alpha News, November 2006-April 2007
 

At the centre of the community

A study conducted by the Diocese of Hereford found that the Church plays an essential role in the countryside:

• 85% of its churchgoers believed the Church has become an important partner in social and cultural life
• and in 15% of communities, the Church was the only major local contributor to local activities.

The diocese’s agricultural chaplain commented that: “the Church’s role is very significant” and “has a close link with the land and the people”, and the Prime Minister’s Inter-Faith Envoy, John Battle MP said that: “if faith communities withdrew their social services provision and the state had to step in, local and central government would be bankrupt”.

Reported in The Church of England Newspaper, 17 March 2006
 

Stay Christian Please!

An ICM poll carried out for BBC News 24 in 2005 found that 75% of respondents said that the UK should retain Christian values. Breaking the figures down according to religion found that:

• 69% of Jews agreed
• 50% of Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus.
• 44% of those who said they had no faith also agreed the country should retain a Christian ethos.

Reported in the Church Times, 18 November 2005
 

The European Paradox

According to the latest ‘European Values Study’:

• 78% of Europeans believe in God
• 73% consider themselves to be a member of a church.

Though the figures above are encouraging, Europeans’ attitude to the Church can be confusing when:

• 67% of churchgoers only attend at Christmas, Easter and other specific holidays
• 57% say they trust the Church but they don’t really think it has much to contribute to society and 72% do not want religious leaders to influence government decisions.
• half of Europeans consider the Church to have adequate answers to moral problems, but only 43% think it has satisfactory answers to family problems and only 30% believe it has anything important to say on social problems.

The paradox is even more apparent in East Germany, where 34% of the population say they are church members, but only 30% say they believe in God!

Reported in 'Interact’ (a Lifewords publication), Oct/Dec 2006