Be a neighbour! Hospice chaplain Tony explains that religion is only one way in which people express their spirituality.

Be in no doubt, hospice spiritual care coordinator, Reverend Dr Tony Maude, is an avowed Christian. His Baptist faith is the cornerstone of his whole being, the foundation on which he lives his life.

Once you meet him you can ask him all about it and he will give you his heartfelt perspective.

What he will never do is preach. He will, and does, respect people’s own faith, or non-faith, beliefs. He’ll listen intently to whatever gives people their own spirituality and help to facilitate, as far as possible, their expression of it. He says,

“Spirituality is actually the essence of who we are. Whatever our life is built on, family, friends, hobbies, music, wider interests, happy recollections and, maybe, also religious faith. It’s all part of it.

I knew, as soon as I walked through the front door, that the hospice was a special place and anything I could do to bring our patients, their families, and our staff, peace of mind became my mission.

After people receive their diagnosis it is understandable that they find their own foundations shaken. For some it’s a little and for others it can be a lot more.

My job, I consider it a calling, is to help, as part of the wider care and support teams, to help people remember who they are and get them closer to those things that, before their illness, made them tick.”

Tony has had a really interesting life before coming to the hospice.

His dad was a medic in the British Army which involved postings around the Far East and Europe, as well as in the UK. Tony was born in Hannover and his sister, Jennifer, was born in Singapore.

Dad’s last posting was in Edinburgh when Tony was mid-teens and he considers Scotland his spiritual home having studied at Linlithgow Academy for his Highers before studying at the famous St Andrew’s University (the alma mater of The Prince of Wales).

Travels continued for Tony however as his doctorate was awarded at Newcastle University, followed by post-doctoral research at the University of Kent and then back to St Andrew’s.

He found his faith through friends at university and, after sensing the call into pastoral ministry, studied for a degree in divinity at the Scottish Baptist College/University of Paisley (He’s been around).

One thing that might surprise everyone is that he relaxes by playing the guitar and singing. Well it’s an important skill of course for elements of worship services but Tony takes it up a notch. You can find him from time to time in Shropshire pubs, belting out hits from artists including AC/DC, Boomtown Rats and even Iron Maiden. Wow, Rock on Tony!

It is a way of Tony not waiting for people to come to him but him going where he can meet them.

Now based in Oswestry in Shropshire, where he was Pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church for 8 years, with his wife of 29 years, GP, Helen, Tony makes a circa two-hour round-trip, 3 times a week, to the hospice and explains,

“It’s well worth the journey. What I find most inspiring is how highly patients speak of my hospice colleagues. They are all fantastic, every one of them.

If there’s one lesson for everyone from what I believe it is, Be a Neighbour. It’s the challenge given by Jesus at the end of the parable of the Good Samaritan, and a teaching we can all live by which makes the kind of difference I see at the hospice every day.”

Whatever your faith background, I think we can all say AMEN to that. Bless you Tony.