And Only the Seagulls are Laughing

Poems by a Hospital Chaplain on the feelings of grief, loss and faith.

Norman Setchell wrote this book of poems  in an attempt to convey the feelings of those who work among the bereaved and of those who are undergoing the pain of personal grief and loss. It is also about hope and the unexpected moments of joy.

This is a pocket book that you, the reader, can take with you as a companion when you are helping the bereaved or suffering a loss yourself.

The author, Norman Setchell is a retired Minister of the United Reformed Church.  Since his leaving Westminster College, Cambridge in 1979 and ordination to his first pastorate his Christian ministry has taken him to parts of the world as an Army Chaplain and Port Chaplain;  the experience gained in visiting patients in hospitals from the Falkland Islands to Belfast in NI and Cyprus, Germany and Belgium provided a good grounding for Hospital Chaplaincy.   The last seven years of full-time ministry was as Team Lead Chaplain at Margate Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital, Margate, as part of the Chaplaincy team in East Kent, where he was given inspiration for the poems written in this book.