The acting Bishop of Southampton Geoff Annas has blessed the newly refurbished chapel at University Hospital Southampton at a special service this week, saying it provides a place of comfort, hope and joy.
The Chapel is a multi-faith space open to anyone, a place of peace for the whole hospital. There is a side chapel with crucifix and candles, male and female Muslim prayer rooms, and a prayer board for people to post their hopes and fears.
Over four weeks work has taken place to replace the windows, carpets, lights and the ceiling. The Chapel has a brighter feel with the walls painted white over the previously grey breeze blocks and new spotlights illuminate the striking wall hanging which is a focal point of the space.
Revd Sue Pitkin has been a Chaplain at the hospital since 2009. She said: “This is a place for people who have a faith, any faith or no faith. This place is so special to many people; to patients who’ve been able to come here to worship and those, who perhaps haven’t been to church for a long time, who come here and feel a sense of peace and maybe a renewed encounter with God. It has led to some people renewing their faith and returning to church. I met a family recently who had all been baptised since meeting the Chaplains and seeing the Chapel. It’s a joy to hear of that happening. It means a lot that there is a renewed blessing by God on this place and to have a visit by Bishop Geoff is a mark of its significance.”
The Chapel serves the 14,000 staff and 1,500 patients at Southampton General and the Princess Anne hospital. There are eight people in the spiritual care team – four Anglican chaplains, two Nonconformists, a Hindu and Muslim Chaplain. Other faith leaders in the area can be called to come into the hospital when needed. There’s also a team of volunteers who carry out various tasks including pastoral care, informing patients about the chapel and pushing wheelchairs to services.
The team offer support to patients, their friends and families and to staff coping with the pressures of work. Chaplains visit patients at their bedside to offer communion and prayers if requested, also carrying out services including baptisms and marriages. The majority of their work, however, is providing a listening ear, comfort, compassion and love.
All of us will go to any patient and be with them whether they have a belief or not. The majority of what we do is listening to people who are suffering or struggling. It may be someone who has had a difficult diagnosis or someone who is fed up with being here. Other people, who because they are in hospital, have had time to think and look back and reflect on their life. They may need to own up to things they have done or regrets from the past. Whether they are of faith or not, it’s extremely important for them to do that. We are not here to convert people but when someone is interested then we will always respond and explain and talk about faith if they want us to. We pray every morning that God will show us where we are most needed and we all carry God with us wherever we go and that is so important. It’s a privilege to do this job.
Revd Sue Pitkin
The blessing on the refurbished chapel was part of the weekly Wednesday communion service. A prayer was said that it would help people find comfort, reassurance, rest, strength, a sense of peace and enrich their lives.
It’s a real privilege to be here and wonderful to ask God’s blessing on this place. It’s a lovely peaceful space and in such a busy bustling hospital, it’s an essential part of the provision here. Your spiritual healing is as important as your physical so it’s good that the church is here to play its part. Many of those in the hospital may have had very little contact with organised religion in the past, nevertheless people have a spiritual side and this often comes to the fore when they are struggling. Lying in bed gives people plenty of time to think, perhaps about things they have done or failed to do in the past or to worry about what’s going to happen in the future. I think a Chaplain is someone who they know they can trust and can talk to in confidence, someone who is there to travel alongside them as our Lord travels alongside them, and to show love in a way that Jesus shows us love.
Bishop Geoff
One woman at the service works at the hospital but is also undergoing treatment there. She said “To know the door of the Chapel is always open is so important and it’s good to know that any faith can come here and has a designated quiet room. When a patient passes away, I feel the need to come here to say a prayer for them. My Dad came here for treatment and so I also visited the Chapel for comfort. It’s nice to come here to express my feelings.”
The Chapel and prayer room is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There is always a need for new volunteers, numbers having dwindled during Covid. If you feel you could offer help, anyone interested in joining the team can email: spiritualcare@uhs.nhs.uk
