The Dementia Core Group of The 3 Spires Mission Area (St Mark’s, St Mary’s and St John’s) has continued to meet to explore ways of increasing awareness of dementia in our churches and church communities. This has allowed the group to explore broad ideas while allowing each individual church to deliver them according to their individual wishes and needs. There was, for example, a Core Group agreement that the special dementia friendly harvest service, which had previously taken place at St Mark’s, would instead take place in the individual care homes in our parishes. This would enable more people further along the dementia pathway to attend a harvest service, planned by volunteers from the local church, in consultation with the activity coordinator of each particular home. St John’s led services at The Laurels and Limes, Darwin House and Bridgedale House. The services took place in October 2024.

In May 2024 during Dementia Action Week St John’s used the side chapel for a reflective dementia awareness display. The theme was “Forget Me Not”-to see the person underneath all those dementia symptoms, by looking at dementia through the eyes of those on the dementia pathway and carers, using poems and prayers written by them. The placing of the display on the altar in the chapel gave spiritual depth to the reflections of those who visited. During the Sunday service that week the children’s group explored books written for children about dementia. 
It is planned to repeat the reflective opportunity this May using some additional poems and prayers written by those with dementia and carers. This year all the poems and prayers have been offered to St Mark’s and St Mary’s for their use during Dementia Action Week. This acts to illustrate our joint support for raising dementia awareness. 

Jenny Stephenson from St John’s has kindly illustrated a forget me not prayer card and a number of them will be available at each church to take home.

The Core Group commitment to send Christmas and Easter cards to each resident in the care homes in our parishes continues. The cards are designed by each church in rotation but used by all 3 churches.

During a recent meeting of the Core Group it was suggested that we should spread our experience of working with dementia in a church setting a little wider by offering an article on “Person Centred Spiritual Care in Dementia” for the March edition of the Healing and Wholeness newsletter of the Sheffield diocese. This article included input from St John’s and St Mark’s and is now available to read online.

The understanding of the importance of increasing our dementia awareness is now growing and two members of St John’s staff decided that they wanted to join the (excellent) Dementia Stars training and have now earned the highest level Gold Star. Well done to Alison Wragg and Claire Webber.

This week we, at St John’s, are recognising Dementia Awareness Week by trying to raise our own personal awareness of dementia. This is in order to enable us to communicate better with people on the dementia pathway and support them and their loved ones more effectively and compassionately.

Poems and Prayers

Dementia Awareness Prayer

Heavenly Father, we pray for all those who travel the dementia pathway, and carers who journey with them. Be with them, merciful Lord, that despite all the problems that they encounter, they may truly know your love and your support, which can bring hope and light in even the darkest of times and during the most difficult of journeys.
Amen.
This prayer was written by our Mission Area Dementia Core Group for Dementia Action Week 2023

For more prayers and poems please see below:
A prayer for by a person with dementia
A child's prayer for people with dementia
Walk with me