Chaplaincy seems to be among the fastest growing ministries in America. Twenty years ago, few students entered seminary to become chaplains, and only a handful of books addressed the topic. Now, many seminaries are starting chaplaincy programs, graduate students are earning doctorates in the discipline, and a flood of recent books and innumerable peer-reviewed journal articles have been published on the subject.
Four factors have caused this phenomenon. First, two well-known trends have undermined traditional American religious loyalties: declining denominationalism among Boomers and the rise of the “nones” among Millennials and Gen-Z. Second, church attendance is declining. Yet, recent surveys indicate interest in spiritual matters is increasing. People are simply looking elsewhere for answers. Third, America is far more pluralistic now. Seventy-five years ago, 96% of America was Judeo-Christian; today the number is 62%, and followers of other world religions have more than doubled. Finally, in the past two generations, the types of chaplain ministry have multiplied exponentially beyond the traditional three—military, healthcare, and correctional—to meet diversified needs: corporate, law enforcement, firefighters, disaster relief, transportation, terminals, educational, parks, sports, bikers, seafarers—and the list goes on!
Where Others Rarely Go
So who are chaplains and what do they do? Chaplains fulfill a sacred calling to accompany and provide professional support and spiritual nurture for everyone in their unique, secular, and pluralistic communities, which authorize them to minister and hold them accountable.
Chaplains are visible reminders of the holy who minister to the needs of others. They don’t just hold a position or wear a badge, nor do they simply provide emotional support divorced from theological beliefs. This is not always understood in our day. For example, ‘chaplains’ of civic clubs and professional societies offer prayers on special occasions, but they rarely minister regularly to members’ needs. Stranger still, lately some have argued that this field should be expanded to include ‘humanist chaplains.’ Recently, a leading American university appointed an atheist as its chaplain to provide nonreligious pastoral care to students and faculty. This is a contradiction: modern humanists are naturalists who deny the supernatural and reject the sacred and holy. What service these groups provide is qualitatively different from that of a trained and ordained chaplain. Chaplains are more than counselors, social workers, or life coaches. Though they deal with emotional, physical, and aspirational concerns, their ultimate focus is on spiritual health and resiliency. The sacred calling of chaplains, succinctly put, is to bring people to God, and God to people.
The sacred calling of chaplains, succinctly put, is to bring people to God, and God to people.
Chaplains typically minister where others cannot easily go because of training requirements, safety concerns, and institutional restrictions. Usually, they do so in a setting with a unique ethos and a distinctive set of rules and customs. The culture might be closed to outside society, such as the military or prisons. It might be semi-closed, such as law enforcement, firefighting, healthcare, or disaster relief. It might be more integrated with society, such as educational institutions or business corporations. Or, it might be widely accessible to the public, such as the transportation industry and terminals, amusement and national parks, sporting events, lifestyle groups, and community living.
Chaplains are accountable to the organizations that employ them. They meet all personnel criteria for general employment and follow institutional rules and guidelines, just as any other employee. They also fulfill educational requirements, religious qualifications, and experience deemed necessary by the organization. Religious qualifications and experience are validated by faith groups that endorse them for employment. Standards for employment vary, depending on the institution, whether the position is full or part-time, and whether it is paid or voluntary. A chaplain may be a single, part-time volunteer among a loosely associated group of people or a full-time, paid member of a team providing ministry in a highly regulated organization. But in every instance, credible chaplains are professionals with the appropriate backgrounds, competencies, and skills necessary to provide quality ministry. A certificate and badge from a diploma mill does not make one a chaplain, and in fact it more often just sets them up to do more harm than good.
Unlike pastors, parish ministers, and priests, who, depending on church polity, are the leader of the congregation, chaplains come under the authority of an organizational leader. They fill a supportive, secondary (or tertiary) role. Chaplains need all the competencies and skills of local pastors, and more. But unlike pastors, they work in secular communities and serve people of all religious faiths, as well as those of none. Like pastors, they are free to share their faith, but they must do so in appropriate ways and in the right context: in religious settings where this is expected and on other occasions when individuals give them permission to do so. Most of their witnessing is done by walking alongside and gently guiding people in their personal, spiritual journeys. In this respect, they set an example as guardians of religious freedom. On one hand, they work hard to protect every person’s right to believe and practice their own faith. On the other hand, they do all they can to prevent anyone, even leaders or the institution as a whole, from imposing one religious (or irreligious) viewpoint on everyone.
4 Roles of a Chaplain
Most chaplains fulfill four roles, but the scope of their responsibilities varies from setting to setting. First, chaplains are faith group representatives: e.g. Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim. Especially in chapel settings, they preach, teach, evangelize, administer religious rites, and disciple persons of similar faith. Second, they are institutional professionals and moral leaders. As such, they are staff members who advise leaders on morale, organizational conditions, and religious issues; help them manage crisis and trauma; promote community values; lead a ministerial team, and supervise other chaplains.
Third, they are community ministers. They are pastors who shepherd the whole organization; “priests” who listen to everyone’s concerns and intercede for them all; ministers who perform public ceremonial rites; and public relations agents who connect with religious communities in the outside world. Fourth, they are ministers to individuals. They intercede for them with the institution; inform and help them to access useful community resources; and shepherd, counsel, encourage, and comfort anyone in need, even beyond the chaplain’s own faith group. A chaplain is a faith-based minister to some, but a chaplain to all.
A chaplain is a faith-based minister to some, but a chaplain to all.
8 FAQs for Future Chaplains
- If I become a chaplain, do I leave the ministry? No, you change the location and culture, but you expand opportunities for ministry, especially to those of no faith. The denomination that endorses you expects you to stay connected with it, and you should keep in touch with the local church.
- Who pays me? The secular institution pays your salary and should be responsible for your healthcare and retirement plan.
- Does government payment of religious ministers violate church-state separation? No, government-funded chaplains provide free exercise of religion for members who otherwise would not have this access because of training requirements, safety concerns, and institutional restrictions. They also prevent the institution from imposing uniform religious standards on everyone.
- Can I evangelize? Yes. But always consider the context. Are your hearers voluntarily present in a religious setting (e.g. chapel), or are they in a secular setting mandated by the institution (a ‘captive’ audience)? Are they informal small groups or individuals, and do you have permission from enquirers to share with them?
- Can I pray in Jesus’s name? Yes. Like any other community member, you are permitted to exercise your religious conscience freely; nobody should tell you how to pray. Again, consider the context, and when you talk with God, do so in the way the Holy Spirit guides you.
- Must I perform rites of other faith groups? No, not if they go against your beliefs. Then your responsibility is to find someone else to provide this ministry.
- Do I compromise my convictions by working alongside chaplains of non-Christian religions? No. Respect their personal dignity and honor their right to practice their faith. Collaborate to help others, but do not endorse, advocate, or participate in their religious practices.
- Can I bear arms for self-protection? No. Under the Geneva Convention, military chaplains are non-combatants, and the military provides chaplain assistants to protect the ministerial team.
So, should you become a chaplain? Only if you sense a deep calling of God to do so. Like all other types of ministry, it is not so much our choice, but a compelling sense of God’s choice. Do not do it if you chafe under authority and must be in charge, because you won’t be. If you always feel compelled to persuade others or need to pressure them to accept your beliefs, do not do it. If you are not a lifelong learner committed to adapting your skills to the nuances of pluralistic ministry, do not do it. If you cannot embrace multi-cultural, multi-faith environments, do not do it. If you are unable regularly to deal with trauma and life-changing situations, do not do it.
Do not become a chaplain if you can avoid doing so, but do not avoid it if God puts that fire in your bones.
Do not become a chaplain if you can avoid doing so, but do not avoid it if God puts that fire in your bones—a passion for reaching those that pastors may never reach, and a compassion for ministering to those that the church may never touch.
