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History of NHIM
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NORTH HUMBERSIDE INDUSTRIAL MISSION
The Beginning
In 1959 the Hull Deanery of the Church of England asked the bishop ( Rt. Revd. G F Townley) to appoint a commission “to consider the work of the Church in relation to Industrial Society in Hull and District.” The commission included members of the Church of England and of other denominations and people from industry, education and local government, including the Revd. J W Roxburgh, Vicar of Drypool and Mr. CG Bridge, Personnel Director at Reckitts, and chairman of the British Council of Churches’ Board for Social Responsibility.
The Commission’s report (1960) recommended concentration by the church on east Hull where “a chaplain would visit factories and docks in order to meet those who worked there and so as to understand something of their attitudes, opinions and problems”. Special attention should be given to apprentices and other young workers, and meeting points provided where representatives of the industrial world could think out their work and responsibilities.
“Our concern” said the report” is not so much with industry as with industrial society, and in assisting the work of the Church in Industrial Society we are concerned with attitudes rather than with patterns of organisation.”
This report was approved by the Deanery Conference and became agreed church policy. The Revd. Geoffrey Sturman was appointed to start the work.
Early Work
For the first five years Geoffrey Sturman was Rector of Preston and Sproatley and his contact with industry had to be part time only. Visiting began on a weekly basis at the
Distillers Company Ltd (later to become BP) at Saltend and at Priestman Brothers.
But in 1968 Mr Sturman became a full time industrial chaplain and a full time colleague was appointed to work with him. Together they developed conferences for managers and workers from industry, apprentice training weekends and school leavers’ courses.
When Phillip Bishop was appointed in 1983 and Ann Youle joined the team a year later, it became possible to visit more companies. Together with a number of part time chaplains, mainly Methodists, visiting was extended to Metal Box, Reckitts, Needlers, Rank Hovis Mc Dougal, Binns and Harlands.In addition to weekly visiting, chaplains were invited to attend works councils, supervisors’ meetings, some industrial relations negotiations and in one case board meetings.
The Chaplaincy organised a range of discussion groups and also broadcast on industrial issues. The team contributed to staff training run by the firms. When unemployment reached serious proportions, a team member became involved in the setting up of Kingston Training Workshops in 1980, a hundred place scheme funded by the Manpower Services Commission.
The team arranged for clergy of all denominations to visit local firns and also invited Bill Gowland from Luton Industrial College and Bishop Ted Wickham to address conferences for lay people.
In 1978 an MA in the Theological understanding of Industrial Society was launched at Hull University and Geoffrey Sturman became its first director.
Industrial Mission in North Humberside was conceived in ecumenical terms. Methodist chaplains have been part time members of the team from early days and Roman Catholic and Baptist clergy have taken part also. Hull and District Council of Churches provided a formal ecumenical framework as the sponsoring body.
Hull as a port has many links with Europe and IM has also organised exchanges with groups in Rotterdam, Hamburg and more recently Halle in eastern Germany.
RELAUNCH OF NORTH HUMBERSIDE INDUSTRIAL MISSION
In 1990 a working party set up by the Bishop of Hull (Rt Revd. Donald Snellgrove) and including members from industry, the university and the church, advised on the future direction of the work. Visiting in established industries should continue and there should be an attempt to work with the innovators and with the voiceless in the local economy. Some 70 people attended a meeting at Humberside University where the mission was re-launched.
Since then the Mission has had a Board of Management with a formal link to Key Churches the new ecumenical body. Members of the Board come from firms, trade unions, local government, and education and from community groups as well as the churches. Their role is to manage the affairs of the Mission and to advise on the direction of the work.
By now the team consisted of Peter Stubley who was joined in 1990 by Chris Percy, in 1993 by Ray Coates and David Rogers, who was appointed to develop work in relation to the local authority and the economic regeneration of Hull. His work has greatly extended the reach of industrial mission into the local economy, through membership of City Vision, the Council for Voluntary Service and Hull DOC; which he helped to found as a community work organisation.
As the numbers employed in manufacturing firms fell during the 80s and 90s it became possible to develop new visiting and work started in the docks at Associated British Ports and at Orchard Park and North Hull Enterprises (OPNHIE).
The Mission now uses two models of work: the traditional role of visitor in the work-place which is always by agreement with management and unions; and the role as member of a working group where the chaplain has a seat at the table and an equal voice.
The team’s mission statement speaks of affirming people in their work roles, seeking to understand their situation, especially from the point of view of the disadvantaged, and working with others for a more fair and just society.
‘Quotations are from North Humberside Industrial Chaplaincy 1962-83 by Geoffrey Sturman.’
Updated 12-Jan-2006
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