In 2012, a workplace chaplain in Sheffield emailed me, enthusiastic about having read my book, ‘An Improbable Feast’. I was planning to fly to London for my son’s wedding in July 2013, so I suggested that while I was in the vicinity, I take a train up to Sheffield and he and a few of his interested mates and I might catch up for chat. This turned into a regional conference at Sheffield College (a Technical University)!
This week I received this email from the Chaplaincy Coordinator in Sheffield:
Happy New Year! Thank you for your stunning report ‘Oasis 2013’. Things are really taking off here with the work since we last spoke and your report arrived at a very timely moment. There are two new builds going ahead on two of the college sites and the Multi-Faith Chaplaincy Service has been asked to submit a wish list for both and we are currently about to submit a set of recommendations to improve the use of the Multi-faith prayer/quiet/reflection space on the City site. As you can see we are still to give a name to the space but we will get there – ‘Oasis’ perhaps? Maybe we can be your first international wing?
The work has taken off so much and we have so much to share but first and foremost, can we get a stack more of the reports you sent us either hardcopy or download? We want to show them to the Executive at Sheffield College to inspire them to catch the vision and take it further with the new builds – the photos are amazing as is the ethos and statements. The college are really supportive and Chris and I have spent an exhausting but also exhilarating six months restarting the whole show.
Anyway, we have so much more to ask you so is there a time when it is easier for us to talk – we can phone you. Give us a number convenient and a date and time and we will do the maths and phone you then.
Just goes to show that hospitality is catchy!