Zetland Park Methodist Church Pastoral Letters
June 2016
Racecourses
Methodists and racecourses don't naturally go together in my mind, but an opportunity has arisen for a connection to be developed in Redcar!
Some months ago Redcar Racecourse approached a Churches Together group in Ryedale who do Chaplaincy work at three Racecourses in their area, asking if they could do likewise here. I was contacted as it is clear we are well out of the operating area of the Ryedale group. However, it is also clear that this sort of Chaplaincy work is not one that anyone locally had experience of. And so a couple of the group from Ryedale came up to Redcar on Easter Saturday for the first race meeting of the year and twice since, and I joined them for one day. The presence of Chaplains is an expression of a Christian care in a workplace for some and a place of leisure for others. Peter, who I accompanied for the day, engaged with Trainers, Owners, Jockeys, Racecourse Officials (ie security, Stewards, organisers, groundsmen) and catering outlets in the morning and then the public who attend the races in the afternoon - amongst whom were several families, which really surprised me. Clearly Peter was known to and recognised by many folk in the morning because he meets them regularly at different Racecourses he attends as Chaplain. But he will equally happily engage with people in the grandstands in the afternoon between the races and, a bit like the Redcar Beacons who support folk in need of a bit of support in the town centre late at night, the Chaplains are quite happy to offer support for those for whom the races have become all a bit too much!
Now, and here we come to the crunch, the Ryedale group have committed to attending races in Redcar this season, but would like to train up local Christians to take over next season. So the opportunity exists to work alongside experienced Chaplains for the remainder of this season and to receive training by them. So, all we need is volunteers! Lots of folk told me how impressed they were with the work of the Redcar Beacons but didn't feel they could manage with being out and about into the early hours of the morning. Well here is a chance for similar caring in the community during the hours of the day when most of us do feel more comfortable being out and about! One word of warning though - being on your feet from 10 am to 5 pm, albeit with breaks for coffee and lunch, is quite tiring, though with enough volunteers we could easily split the day into two 'shifts'.
If you are interested to know more please have a word with me. We can then get the Ryedale folk up to talk to us about the work and arrange opportunities to 'try it and see'.
All Blessings