A part-time consultant anaesthetist, wife, mum and biscuit supplier to her neurotic labrador Tara and puppy cocker spaniel Mitch, Audrey Chalmers is also the CMF South-West Scotland Catalyst Team Leader. She took time out to tell us more.
why teams?
‘Thinking along NHS lines, if we have a major accident or a huge trauma or shooting or some major act of violence… we would assemble a trauma team. It would have an orthopaedic surgeon, an ENT surgeon, an ICU doctor, a theatre anaesthetist. The team would come together because together we can do a quicker job sorting out the patient and having all the appropriate skills there, because people have different skills to bring.’
‘Jesus assembled a team of disciples, and folk were sent out in pairs and you know the Bible says two are better than one, because if one should fall into a pit there will be someone else there to lift them out (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). So, it’s great for getting the work done, because you have different skills all coming together to work together; it’s really good for folk on the team because you learn from each other: you have support, fellowship, friendship, companionship, physical practical help, and you just have people to spark ideas from.’
what inspired you to take up the role of Catalyst Team Leader: SW Scotland?
‘I think I kind of realised over the years that leadership of these kind of teams is not necessarily about the leader being a ‘fabulous’ person or a fabulous leader. It’s about realising that God chooses all of us and how he works in each person is really different and the thing that really inspires me is the immense privilege it is to see a team of quite disparate people come together and out of that, God bringing amazing things to happen that you couldn’t write a story about in advance….. At the end of the day, it’s God’s team and it’s God’s work within that team …We are just vessels and instruments to allow God’s Spirit to carry his purposes out and to bring his kingdom in.’
fast forwarding five years, what would you like to see happening across Scotland?
‘I would like to see us with an area team covering the whole country, so with teams set up everywhere that can reasonably reach Christian medics and nurses and everyone else in their locality…. From within those teams, leaders have developed who are in positions to influence the shape of healthcare in Scotland… within their workplace for the honour and glory of the Lord in our country.’
anything else you would like to add?
‘ We are all very broken. But when you work in the NHS, you are confronted daily with people who are hopeless, because their lives are just full of hopelessness and we have that hope to share with them. We have the hope of Jesus Christ…I know you’re out there, I know there are lots of people who really want to show God’s love and offer his hope in the workplace, so come and join in!’
