On-line spiritual help takes off in Nottingham

A new spiritual service on-line – offering a listening ear to Nottingham’s pressurised business people via email – is proving a valued asset to the city business community, with hundreds accessing the site each month.

The iChaplaincy service (which recently re-named itself from its original title ‘e-chaplaincy’) has been warmly welcomed by businesses and organisations since its launch in September last year.  

iChaplaincy development worker, The Revd Rachel Shock, said: “We’re really pleased that people are now using the service regularly and that the word is getting out that we offer a free confidential service for anyone. The anonymity that is possible in an email conversation is an attractive feature of this service. People who need support and aren’t sure where to go for advice or are just having a bad day, can e-mail in and have a conversation with me. I have already answered about 100 emails since the start, which have included personal support and answering questions about the Christian faith.”

The iChaplaincy service, which is available to anyone across the country, aims to offer help with issues such as bereavement, health concerns, relationship issues, loneliness, stress, redundancy, managing change and work/life balance. Rachel explained that the roles of both workplace chaplain and iChaplain are to complement a firm’s human resources department and counselling and welfare provision, to provide a listening space where there are no other facilities.

Funding for the chaplaincy post has come from a new Mission Fund set up by the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham.

People can find out more about the service through the website www.ichaplaincy.org.uk or they can just email direct to: ichaplain@ichaplaincy.org.uk

ends