News from our Voluntary & Part-Time Chaplains 

Rev Neil Durling

Chaplain to Tonbridge Angels Football Club

I am entering my 14th season/year as the Club Chaplain at Tonbridge Angels Football club. I attend training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings (6:30-9:30) and most home games and the odd away game (Saturdays and Tuesdays). Training next season is moving from the evenings to Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with an optional Monday morning session.  I plan to go to the Thursday mornings and others on occasion, or when a need arises.

I spend a lot of time with the Staff and players, especially the injured players. I am also in the Changing Room before and after matches as well as at half-time. I pray with several players of various and no faiths. This has widened in recent years to praying for ex-Angels players who have asked me to continue as their ‘remote Chaplain’.

Our match attendance pre-Covid averaged about 350 fans. This last season the average was over 1,100. This has increased my workload on matchdays when I do a few laps of the ground, spending time chatting and praying with fans.

I write an article for every matchday programme which this season has become free online with an average readership of 1,600. Our church also gets a free full-page advert in every programme for the work we get up to.

My work also involves funerals (fans and players) and weddings (I’m taking one in Cyprus next month for an ex-goalkeeper!).

I also meet and pray with our Chair both face-to-face and virtually.

Tonbridge Baptist Church work closely with the club. Much of this is unseen and under the radar, such as providing free football training camp places to children we know of through our Foodbank (Sustain), the relevant footwear for those who can’t afford it, as well as kit. The club donate their old kits to us which are sold at 25p an item in our clothes shop (Clothes2Go). We also use the club’s ground free of charge for various events that benefit the community, such as our annual Easter Egg hunt which sees over 100 families come together for a morning of fun. The club also have a donation bucket for our Foodbank which provides for over 100 families or individuals each week.

At our Annual Awards Ceremony a few weeks ago I said grace before the meal and then was given a gift as part of the awards. The Chair said: “Neil, you are our club’s anchor”. This meant more to me than she knows due to my Boys’ Brigade roots!

I have been asked to represent Sports Chaplaincy UK on the Baptist Chaplaincy Forum, starting in the summer.  This will involve two online meetings (February & October) and one in person meeting (June/July) a year, as well as other involvement as time allows.
This work is an absolute joy and privilege for me, helping to keep my feet on the ground.
 
Please can you pray for:

• Rest as we are now in the close season until mid-July.
• Getting used to morning training sessions next season after 13 seasons of evenings.
• Settling into the SCUK role.
• The Cyprus wedding in the summer.