Care Home Ministry

A team from St. James by the Park visits two Care Homes in Shirley Avenue, Stanwell and Ashwood, once a month, usually on the 4th Thursday, to take a short service.

There are three regulars on the team, Simon Clift and David Wagstaff who alternate between leading and giving a short talk, and Rhona Shutler who does the reading. We have the occasional guest speaker. The services follow a rough liturgy with introduction and opening prayer, hymns (usually three), reading, interactive talk, confession and other prayers and finishing with a blessing. There is a short time after each service to talk to some of the residents.

The two homes are very different. At Stanwell there is a small lounge of which we have sole use for the duration of the service whereas at Ashwood we use the main lounge so not everyone there has chosen to take part, although most do happily join in, together with any visitors.

Most of the residents have some sort of Christian history with varying levels of past church attendance and churchmanship. The services are not without their challenges, with some of the residents making comments, others walking through and various interruptions.

We always sense that God is with us in the services and we get more out of them than we put in. It is always lovely to see the residents, many of whom have dementia and find it difficult holding a conversation, perking up and joining in with the familiar hymns and the Lord’s Prayer.

If you’d like to join us, please speak to any of the team.