Page 4 - Moravian Messenger November 2019

RAF Air Cadets Chaplaincy
History of Fulneck Museum - Part 2
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At the beginning of the year I became a Padre, or Chaplain, for my local RAF Air Cadet (RAFAC) squadron so I thought I would write to share with you all what this involves and maybe inspire some of you to do the same.
Firstly, a Padre is not required to be an ordained minister, and readers, lay preachers or other authorised roles can apply. RAFAC welcome Padres from all faith backgrounds and their vision is: 'to provide appropriate pastoral care for all personnel with the Air Cadets, irrespective of religious beliefs or status. The role of the Padre is in offering guidance and leadership to cadets and members of staff on moral and spiritual matters.'
So, what does a Padre do?
Once a month I lead 'Padre Parade' and am given free reign to take over the squadron and lead the cadets in discussions, activities, games, debates etc. I have led a number of Padre Parades and they have been very varied from a presentation and discussion about the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, also, the 'Battle of Britain', another about 'Body Image' and the effects on young people today. I also take the lead on training new recruits for enrolment into the RAFAC. There are four core values of RAFAC which has the acronym RISE. These stand for: Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence. We look at each value in turn and discuss how this applies to them and their role in the cadets.
The Moravian youth groups will be pleased to hear that I have introduced the 'Werewolf' game to the cadets with great success. The OC has limited how often we play it as it got very noisy!
I recently attended the RAFAC Chaplain's Convention at Amport House, Andover. The house has been owned by the Ministry since 1957 and is, currently, the home of Chaplaincy within the whole of the Armed Forces. It is a beautiful grade 2 listed house with, unusually, grade 1 listed gardens (designed by Lutyens). Fortunately, we were the last volunteer chaplains to attend training there as it will shortly be closed and put up for sale.
During the conference we covered many topics such as Mental Health awareness, LGBTQ+ awareness, Safeguarding, ideas for leading Padre Parades and were even visited by the Air Commodore Dawn McCafferty CBE RAFR. She is in charge of the whole of RAFAC, that is over 1,000 squadrons with nearly 56,000 cadets, 15,000 adult volunteers and nearly 900 chaplains. We were very pleased that she had taken the time to come and talk to us and that she recognises the important role Padre's do.
If you are interested in volunteering with any of the Armed Force cadet groups as civilian instructor or Chaplain, then find your local squadron and talk to them. Some of the activities in the RAFAC are: Aviation; Duke of Edinburgh; First Aid; Adventure training; Road marching; STEM; Cyber; Space;
Aircraft recognition; Drill of course and many more.
I hope I have given you a flavour of what we do, we are always needing extra volunteers and whatever your interest there will be a role for you.
Sr Lorraine Shorten
Minister of Hall Green United Community Church and Leominster Moravian Church
On Wednesday 9th July 1969 in Fulneck all the hard work done by Srs Eunice Harrison and Kathleen Mitchell and their team of helpers to create the Fulneck Moravian Museum came to fruition. About 50 people had gathered to join in the opening ceremony led by Bishop John Foy. They had to shelter in the church for a few minutes while a shower of rain passed and then they were able to take their places in front of the building. The hymn 'Saviour Thy love Has Guided' was sung and the Rev Geoffrey Birtill then welcomed everyone. He said that the Fulneck Moravian Museum would 'preserve the unique heritage of Fulneck', that the past had given us so much it would be an inspiration for the future.
Mr Henry Miller, the Deputy Mayor of Pudsey, then spoke of his family's long association with Fulneck and his pleasure in the new museum being an asset to Pudsey. He urged everyone to 'go on with
the business of putting the district in order by beautifying the village and preserving its contents'.
The two ladies who had brought
the event about gave a financial
report and explained the origins
of the venture and thanked friends and members for exhibits loaned and donated. Bishop Foy from the Provincial Board of the Moravian Church praised the tenacity of Srs Mitchell and Harrison and noted that the museum was the first Moravian Museum in England. After he led a short prayer Sr Mollie Hillam presented him with the key to the front door and the museum was open to the public. The Bishop gave his opinion that the museum was 'a great treasure house of things of bygone days'. The guests were then able to look round the new museum before adjourning to the newly opened cafe at Fulneck shop.
Srs Harrison and Mitchell had been thinking about the need for a museum for a while and, when the cottage and workshop had been declared unfit for human habitation and in need of a great deal of repairs, they decided to obtain it for their venture. During the major works which had to be done a 200 feet well was discovered under the scullery floor (now safely capped). Money for the work was raised by holding coffee mornings and selling the 2,000 jars of marmalade all home made by Sr Pat Balmforth.
Sr Maureen Ingham
Fulneck
Amport House
© Sr Lorraine Shorten