A Ministry of Presence

Community Pioneer Chaplain, Mel Brown (see pic), works ecumenically with the Anglican Church and supports new communities in Overstone and Moulton, areas of new housing estates on the outskirts of Northampton.

Beyond the bricks and mortar, she is helping to build thriving communities, facilitating and supporting activities that bring people together in these new developments.

What’s remarkable is that there is no community centre, church building or a physical space to invite people to, but that hasn’t stopped her. “The real question was never whether we had a building. It was whether we were willing to get out of it.”

Presence means getting out and into the places and spaces where people already are. “It depends on prayer, discernment, courage and a willingness to keep listening to God, to the community, to ourselves and responding to what we hear.”

That listening starts with noticing, which Mel says is vital; “Noticing where God is already at work in a place, rather than deciding for ourselves what a community needs and setting about providing it.

It would be easy to walk in with a plan, to assume we know what's missing. But that isn't presence, it's an assumption. Presence asks first, watches first, and joins in with what's already happening.”

The story of the Emmaus Road resonates strongly with Mel. A stranger falls into step with two grieving travellers, walking at their pace, listening to their story, waiting rather than rushing ahead. Only later do they realise who had been journeying alongside them all along.

She says, “This is what a ministry of presence looks like: not arriving with answers, but remaining close enough, long enough, for something to be revealed.”

Being embedded matters too, though not embedded in buildings. Instead, it means becoming embedded within the communities being served. It is about becoming a known and trusted part of a community’s daily rhythm, someone who is simply there again and again until people begin to share their questions, sorrows and small pieces of news.

She has seen what this can look like in practice. Last December, a carol service on the Green brought people together outdoors for an evening of music, storytelling and celebration. One community organiser took the lead, while others helped shape it into a community-wide effort.

Residents brought gifts to share with families they had never met, while a group of mothers baked 100 gingerbread men and created an activity where children decorated biscuits with icing.

“Father Christmas even stopped by on a festive trailer festooned in lights, which was a delight for young and old alike.” None of it needed a building, just a willingness to be among people, attentive to what was already taking shape within the community.

Through witnessing experiences like these, Mel believes presence isn't determined by our functions or the outcomes we can report. “It's determined by the connections we make, and the connections we help others make with one another.

Those connections carry the possibility of change – and that, quietly, is what ministry of presence has always been about.”

“So, whether you have a building or not: what would it mean for you to get out of it this week, and be present in your community?”