Industrial mission remembered

As I was getting up this drizzly morning I had a message from Rufus to arrange a coffee and a chat. I went to the Eucharist at St Catherine's and then we met. It's great to see him enjoying his new job as Wales Chaplain for the Mission to Seafarers. He talked about the fast pace of change in the maritime and linked industries, and how the Mission is having to respond to this. As well as his pastoral role as a pastoral ship visitor, his work embraces on-shore personnel, in the way industrial missioners did in the early days of my ministry. 

It's been 25-30 years since specialist industrial chaplains disappeared from church ministry teams, with the demise of heavy industry, coal and steel especially. Port Talbot steelworks, threatened with closure in the near future had its own industrial chaplain until five years ago. My friend and former colleague Geoff Johnston was industrial chaplain to a steel works in the Black Country which closed while he was in post. Much of his remaining time in post before he returned to a parish was spent working with people made redundant by the closure. 

After Rufus and I parted company, I had to go home, collect the veggie bag and retrieve this week's supply from Chapter before lunch, which was thankfully delayed as Clare had made a late start, having spent the morning investigating travel insurance. After we'd eaten, I did the Co-op grocery shopping, and then went for a walk in the park.

With nothing better to do, I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening watching several episodes of 'Vigil', which is pretty good dramatic fare laced with hi-tech' investigations. Interesting portrayal of the changing ways in which espionage and warfare are waged in the age of the mobile phone, and the impact  on warriors on the front line of living constantly with the need to be vigilant on duty or off. 'Be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, whom resist steadfast in faith', as scripture says. Except that these a lot less faith around these days, and you can never be sure you really know who your enemies might be.