THERE'S currently a strange paradox in the world of religion and
society. One well-worn narrative will tell you that religion
(including Anglicanism) in the UK is in decline. Every year, a new
survey demonstrates that the proportion of Christians in the UK is
smaller than in the past. When even the former Archbishop of
Canterbury Lord Carey is claiming that the Church is one generation
away from extinction, surely we ought to pay attention. More than
that, the nature of Christianity demands that - beyond paying
attention - something actually needs to be done about this
trend.
The interesting paradox comes from a second narrative, which
also ought to be worthy of serious attention. At a time of
increased secularism, and demands to limit religion to the private
sector, perhaps surprisingly chaplaincy in the UK seems to be a
growth industry. Indeed, chaplains keep cropping up in the most
unlikely places.
Where once chaplaincy, at least in the public eye, was a
phenomenon limited to prisons, hospitals, the military,
universities, and public schools, today media reports focus on
chaplains to shopping centres, sports clubs, and airports; even the
London College of Fashion (Features).
Given the first narrative, one might have expected chaplaincy to be
first in the firing-line; instead, the model seems to be
spreading.
THIS paradox ought to raise some serious questions for the
Church of England, and how it sees its chaplains. It ought to
consider why chaplaincy seems to be growing (at least in some
areas), and what that tells us about an effective presence in the
public square. Just why is it that chaplaincy is booming in this
unpromising public environment?
One answer might lie in the very nature of 21st-century British
society, which is as individualised and unrooted in community as it
has ever been. People move careers more than they used to. They
move home - especially younger people, who are more likely than
their parents to go away to university, and significantly more
likely to be forced to spend a large portion of their lives in
rented accommodation.
It is a society less bound by traditional institutional
loyalties and identities. (Political-party membership, for example,
is at a historic low; and the likelihood of minor political
parties' gaining significant portions of the vote is higher than it
has ever been.) Little wonder, then, that many parishes struggle to
fill the pews: what point is there in forming close links with a
parish church, only to move on soon afterwards?
COMPLAINING about this situation won't help. Society is not
going to revert to what it once was. Instead, it is the Church that
needs to adapt. To fail to do so is to fail to fulfil its mission
to go out and preach the gospel, to do good works and reach people.
Unless it adapts, it will consign itself to irrelevance. It needs
to show itself capable of adapting if it is to be relevant,
vibrant, innovative, but, above all simply present in
people's lives.
Chaplaincy can be a response to this need to adapt. It is an old
model of ministry, but one that seems especially suited to our
current scenario. Chaplains have the great advantage of being, by
their very nature, public figures who operate outside the usual
church buildings and structures.
Furthermore, the range of settings in which chaplains are now
serving is quite extraordinary. In the course of research for a new
report on chaplaincy by Theos, A Very Modern Ministry:
Chaplaincy in the UK, we encountered chaplains in theatres,
hostels for the homeless, and ports, on public transport, and in
town centres, sports clubs, and even a casino. This spread into
such a diverse range of fields is illustrative of the ability of
chaplaincy to adapt, and to find ways of reaching people in the
unlikeliest of settings.
Besides this, the work that is going on in some of these
settings is quite remarkable. A sport chaplain had set up a
gambling support network; a school chaplain, employed by Christian
Youth Outreach (CYO), was working on a scheme to improve the
self-esteem and confidence of schoolgirls - to rave reviews from
other staff at the school. Meanwhile, chaplains in a paediatric
hospital were developing programmes to meet the spiritual needs of
teenagers with terminal illnesses, and to support staff.
These are innovative and powerful witnesses to the work that the
Church can do in a public setting, that are unquestionably both
relevant and critically important to the service users
involved.
FOR all the good news stories, we should be clear that
chaplaincy is not without its challenges. There are pressing issues
of funding and sustainability in various settings. The realities of
multifaith work in the 21st century mean an ongoing process of
negotiation and compromise. The greatest challenge for Anglican
chaplains, however, may not be persuading their own workplaces of
their value so much as convincing the wider Church.
Chaplains frequently complain that they are an overlooked
ministry, perceived as being somehow tangential to the core
business of "being Church". We can overstate this: individual
sectors are often the responsibility of a nominated bishop, who
works hard to maintain good networks of support. None the less, it
is a perception frequently reported by chaplains, and one that
ought to be addressed.
Chaplaincy, despite its long history, seems particularly well
suited to some of the problems faced by today's Church. It is time
that this ministry was put front and centre in discussions on the
future of being Anglican in the public square. Supporting and
resourcing this expanding ministry should become a priority for the
Church of the 21st century.
Ben Ryan is a researcher at Theos.