The ICS Conference, a heartbeat that runs through ministry

The Revd Canon John Wilkinson, Associate Chaplain at Holy Trinity Brussels, together with his wife Susie, have been faithful attendees of the ICS Conference.

‘Back on a sunny spring day in 1997, Susie and I, with our children aged from 7 years old to nearly 1, arrived at a conference near Lyon. It was all very new; including the idea that we were moving to France in a few months, for me to become the chaplain of St Peter’s, Chantilly.

The conference opened our eyes to the opportunities, hopes …and fears, that arose as we contemplated leaving the ‘known’ of a UK parish, to the ‘unknown’ of a ministry, supported by a mission agency, in a small town north of Paris.

Nearly 28 years later, I am looking out of a window in Beatenberg in Switzerland, just able to see across the street because of the cloud cover. Susie and I are still here with ICS in our third chaplaincy, and we are still not the longest continuous attendees!

Between Lyon and Beatenberg, much has happened in our lives, and much has changed in the conferences’ styles. Yet at the core of them is what has sustained us in this ministry. The first thing we noticed was that there was plenty of time to learn, grow, pray, worship, rest, laugh, cry, network and be resourced with, from and among like-minded, yet diverse, fellow church leaders. We would arrive tired after Easter and would probably leave tired too…but profoundly refreshed, fortified and encouraged. Good friendships have been forged too.

The Bible teaching, the talks on important aspects of mission, together with the opportunities in seminars to go deeper into topics, watered the growth of our ministries generally and of our work in specific chaplaincies. We are so grateful that those chaplaincies were able to support our coming, both in prayer and financially, not least because we know that not all chaplaincies have been able to do that.

For our children, ICS was the conference. There was a children’s programme often led by Sarah Williams – the great topic of conversation on the way to the conferences was what colour her hair would be! They were taught, entertained, and rehearsed for the children’s presentation, alongside children who understood the particularities of life where they might speak a different language at school from the language they spoke at home and at church, as well as the challenges simply of being clergy children.

The ICS conference has been a heartbeat running through our ministry in France and in Belgium; without it we would have been more tired and less effective. We are very grateful for all the planning teams over the years; for bishops who have prioritised the conference; for the Council who agreed funding and for chaplaincies and individuals who have prayed.

I’m looking forward to next year already!’