Theme - Industrial Mission
The purpose of Industrial Mission is to bring the consciousness of God’s loving presence in the workplace to the maximum number of people. The work of this ministry is done by industrial chaplains, and helps to inform Christian understanding and action about the effects of economic activity on individuals and communities.
Chaplains are co-ordinated and supported by three main organisations: Northumbrian Industrial Mission, Tees Valley Ministry, and Newcastle City Centre Chaplaincy. A welcome new fourth initiative to make the links between faith and work is “After Sunday”. Industrial chaplains understand themselves to be ‘sent’ by their churches into the workplace to discover the presence of Christ who is already there before them, and to let him work through them to address the needs they find there. In these dark days for many, some of those needs are heard in the increasing use of words like ‘unemployment’, ‘redundancy’, ‘debt’ and ‘stress’.
The feelings of uncertainty, fear, and even guilt, which accompany the current recession, call for prophecy rather than prediction. What is certain is that a severely damaged economy will have a devastating impact upon the life and work of many thousands of people in the North East, and this makes industrial mission more pressing and urgent than ever before.
When the recession hit, Northumbrian Industrial Mission responded quickly, appropriately and effectively. It produced an economic briefing paper (see link) which captured the views and perspectives of the key players in the region’s economy, such as One NorthEast, Jobcentre Plus, North East Chamber of Commerce, the Northern TUC, and the voluntary sector. What gives this briefing paper its unique weight and quality is the special ears-to-the-ground perspective of industrial chaplains who minister to workplaces ranging from Airports to sea ports, car plants to power stations, Fire and Rescue to Inland Revenue, Television Centres to call centres, MetroCentre to retail parks. These chaplains, mostly voluntary, are amazing and passionate people and we are immensely grateful for their faithful witness to God’s faithful with-ness at work.