Press Releases04 Oct 17

Chaplaincy – the new priority for the Church?

by the Most Revd Dr Richard Clarke

Archbishop Richard Clarke discusses the origins, history and current practice of chaplaincy, and considers the scope for a greater role for chaplains in the Church’s mission in Ireland today.

We are probably all familiar with the concept of ‘chaplaincy’. It is a word that for centuries would have had little application outside the religious sphere, although today it is being given an extension of meaning by humanists who make the case for the value of chaplaincy in the secularist domain also.

The origins of chaplaincy are believed to go back to those monks who were the custodians of the cloak of Saint Martin of Tours who, it will be remembered, in an instinct of generosity as a young soldier cut his military cloak in two in order to provide clothing for a naked beggar, who later appeared to him in a vision as the figure of Christ.

The mediaeval Latin for a small cloak is capella (sometimes cappella), from which the words chaplain and chapel are both derived.

Originally it was the clergy who served in the pastoral care and support of the military who were denoted as cappellani. The usage of the word stretched over time to any who formally represented a particular religious tradition in an institution – whether religious or secular – encompassing hospitals, nursing homes, universities, schools and prisons. The essence of chaplaincy remained the same – to be there, alongside others in service, in the name of Jesus Christ.

For centuries there have also been chaplains to guilds in, for example, the City of London. And there remain individuals – including royalty, mayors and even bishops – who have appointed chaplains to guide them in their duties.

For a period in the twentieth century the concept of ‘industrial chaplains’ came into high–profile vogue, where clergy were given the brief of being present and available in industrial work places for any who might wish to avail of their care. There are chaplains appointed to fire services, to police forces, to some large business corporations, and even to cruise ships. The concept is deeply embedded in the public psyche.

Today the model of chaplaincy has developed in other ways and, particularly in such institutions as hospitals, colleges and prisons, there is now the visible reality of multi–faith, humanist, and ‘generic’ chaplaincies alongside – and sometimes in place of – traditional denominational chaplaincies.

In most of these institutions, chaplaincy work is funded, at least in part and indirectly, by the state. Generic chaplaincies are typically those in which an individual is appointed and employed as the ‘lead chaplain’ by an institution, with direct responsibility to his or her employers (rather than any religious grouping) for the entirety of the chaplaincy work undertaken, albeit in probable collaboration with other chaplains who may or may not be paid by the institution.

Inevitably this appears as the most efficient and cost–effective option to the administrators of the institution. It takes no cognisance of distinctions between different Christian traditions, but these are not the concern (it would be quickly argued) of those who are entrusted with the allocation of public money. The presumption is that religion is religion is religion.

In some cases, it will the responsibility of the lead chaplain to secure the services of representatives of other religious faiths, in response to particular requests.

Equally, it will often be for an individual in a hospital bed to take the initiative in requesting specifically the services of a chaplain of his or her denomination. Indeed, with current legal obligations regarding client/patient confidentiality and data protection, it might well be illegal for a chaplain to enquire as to the religious denomination of a patient if this had not already been noted at the patient’s admission, let alone to ask if he or she would like to receive the care of a chaplain of that religious denomination (which might well include the possibility of receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion).

Much depends, regardless of the nature of the institution – whether healthcare, educational or penal – on a positive, mutually respectful and generous cooperation between chaplains of different Christian traditions, different religious faiths, and with those chaplains who represent non–faith values. It also requires flexibility and nuance from those entrusted with the overall governance of our public institutions.

In the Church of Ireland, we owe a huge gratitude to those who serve as chaplains, whether ordained or lay, whether full–time or part–time.

Writing as one who worked as a university chaplain for some years and also – at later stages in ministry – as a part–time hospital chaplain, university chaplain and de facto school chaplain, I am aware not only of the arduous nature of chaplaincy work but also of how this work has become far more demanding in the intervening years.

The task of a chaplain (regardless of the nature of the institution) is not only to provide a service – probably in both the pastoral and liturgical senses of the word – for those who self–identify as belonging to one’s tradition, but also to be an active and visible presence of the Church as a whole in that place, among those who may or may not have any interest or engagement in faith of any kind. It was never easy, but today the role of the chaplain is infinitely more difficult.

Whether one is being admitted as a patient to a hospital or enrolled as a new student in a third level college, the likelihood is that one will have some difficulty in registering one’s religious tradition even if one was happy to do so.

I recall a time when, as a chaplain in a large hospital, I simply collected a print–out of Church of Ireland patients from an office and set about visiting them, while chatting to others if occasion made this possible. It was also a time when one might receive a phone call from a member of the medical staff late in an evening to say that a newly admitted patient (who had been registered as Church of Ireland on arrival) was to have emergency surgery the next morning, and the nurse – it was usually a nurse – thought that they might like a spiritual visit from “their” chaplain before facing an operation.

Those days – from all that I have learnt – have been left far behind by the culture of today’s Ireland, south and north, east and west. An accepted need for chaplains, and the unselfconscious presence of chaplains as an integral part of any institution, is no longer a given.

In part this is the consequence of an advancing secularisation; it is also in part the agenda of a militant secularism. In such a culture, the work of a chaplain, part–time or full–time (although no less strenuous than in the past) has become far less quantifiable than ever before, and it must in consequence inevitably be more taxing.

The hope and prayer of all of us must be that it is not less ultimately fulfilling, because the ministry of the chaplain is more necessary than ever.

For generations, chaplaincy ministry, whether full–time or (more probably) part–time has been understood – regardless of the institution – as an adjunct to parish ministry, predominantly clerical and even ‘amateur’ in terms of specialist training.

The Church of Ireland census of 2013 has shown us that a majority of those who self–identify as Church of Ireland are not greatly engaged with their local parish; although the full analysis of the 2016 census is not yet available, I would be surprised if many people anticipate a massive upswing in church–going trends.

I certainly do not suggest that we abandon the parish as a crucial base for the life and work of the Church. I do suggest, however, that we place a new emphasis on our pastoral encounter with a world beyond the walls of the parish.

People who need and want the care of Christ through his Church are not all to be found sitting in the pews of our churches. There are those who value in the depths of their being an encounter with ‘chaplaincy’ – whether in a prison, a university, a hospital, a hostel of the homeless – even if they never become part of the worshipping community of our parish churches.

There are those who have given up on religion, but for whom the ‘Whisper of God’ (to use a phrase I have used elsewhere!) in their setting at that particular moment encourages their minds and souls to undertake a journey.

Jesus did not quantify his ministry neatly on a spreadsheet. He even told a parable about a sower which would not have impressed productivity consultants. The Incarnation is about presence, self–giving and faithfulness, not about managerial success.

Dare we suggest that a greater resourcing of chaplaincy by the Church of Ireland – both financially and in terms of deployment of well–trained clergy and laity – may not necessarily result in spectacularly improved figures in the next Church census?

However, what we would be doing, if we placed chaplaincy in an outside world higher in our list of priorities, would be sponsoring the taking of the Gospel out of our comfort zones, and the ministry of the chaplain is most certainly no comfort zone for its exponents.

But the news is not all bad news in terms of perceived need – Church leaders in Northern Ireland, along with those of other religious faiths, were recently asked by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) if our religious communities would consider – and be in a position to provide – chaplaincy provision for the police services.

We in the Church of Ireland need to understand that other Christian traditions in Ireland are expending a great deal more of their central church resources, even proportionately to membership, on chaplaincy work.

Not from any narrowly competitive – even less a sectarian – perspective, we nevertheless need to realise that we cannot expect that the Church of Ireland, as a Christian tradition, will be able to provide as good a chaplaincy service as we would wish (and that others are able to provide to a greater degree), unless we choose to invest more in that ministry, both with people and in financial support. 

There is much that we can and must do in collaboration with other religious traditions but, if we have any confidence in our own tradition, we should be ready also to play our part fully. I know very well that our chaplains work immensely hard and very effectively in every type of institution where we have a presence, and for this we must be grateful. But they deserve not only our gratitude and prayers but greater support in every way.

This is no time for any of us to congratulate ourselves on what we are doing, whether inside or outside the walls of our churches and parishes. This is a time to grasp where the future of Christian presence and witness must be, and not all of it can be within our places of security. Saint Martin did keep half of his cloak but he did tear half of it away, expecting neither reward nor even grateful response!

This article was first published in the Church of Ireland Gazette.