Chaplaincy to Norfolk County Hall
 Rev Chris Copsey is one in a long line of people who have served as Chaplains to County Hall. As one of our “flag-ship” chaplaincies we have always tried to maintain continuity of care and to find ways of serving this large and diverse body of people all of whom have public service as their common denominator.
Chris started her Chaplaincy at County Hall in February 2008 and has made many contacts among the 1300 people who work there. With women representing around seventy percent of the workforce we are pleased that the first woman on the chaplaincy team is able to take on this role.
County Hall itself is the administrative centre for a vast range of services provided by the County Council for all the people of Norfolk, no matter where they live or work. This includes education services for all ages, social care in the community and to those with special needs, environmental and waste services, planning and transportation, and cultural services including the Norfolk Record Office, museums and libraries The staff are also involved in supporting arts events, providing consumer protection, monitoring animal health in trading standards (think avian flu, foot and mouth and blue tongue for example).
 One day a week is not long to serve those who administer the activities of the largest employer in Norfolk and one who in some cases may be the only local employer (think of a village with a school and few other services). It is also a challenging chaplaincy service to those who serve others through legal services, democratic support, human resources, ICT, finance, economic development, emergency planning, transport and much more).
We asked Chris to tell us something about herself. She says: “I was born and grew up in Nottingham, moving to Lincolnshire for teacher training. It was there that I met Graham who was at RAF Cranwell and we married in 1972. RAF life took us to many parts of the country and we spent three years living in Munich. I taught in several primary schools until we started our own family. We moved to settle in Norfolk in 1992 when Graham joined the NHS. I was a Parish Councillor for twelve years and Chair of Governors in a large infant and nursery school”.
 Chris is an Anglican and was ordained as a Deacon in 2007 and as Priest in 2008. Before ordination training she was a Reader for nine years across seven rural parishes. She is also a curate at a Parish in King’s Lynne.
The chaplaincy Chris offers in County Hall is one of many support mechanisms available to staff including an employee counselling scheme, a muscular-skeletal rehabilitation scheme, an occupational health referral scheme as well as a harassment support officer network and the trade unions. Within these disciplines Chris endeavors to offer a faith perspective, and aims to be:
- involved in the induction programme for new staff
- present, on site, one day a week and available to staff either at their workstation or another location of their choosing
- available on the end of a phone outside the workplace visit times
- able to coordinate/lead particular reflection times, accessible to people of all faiths, (e.g. Remembrance Day, Holocaust Day and other occasions that the Council or members of staff might wish to mark publicly)
- available to staff via the intranet
- able to provide referrals, at the user's request, to other services in relation to particular needs on either welfare or spiritual care matters
- able to refer users of the chaplaincy service to other faith chaplains when this is required
 willing to provide regular reports on activity (within the limits of confidentiality) - open to discuss further ways the chaplain may be of help within their capacity to deliver the service required
Good Work is there for all people of any faith and no faith - we give people the time they need, and that's good news.
|
