"Lord, I don't ask that I should win, but please, please don't let me finish behind Akabusi."
A Handbook of Chaplaincy Studies
Return to the book list for titles beginning with 'a'.
Christopher Swift, Mark Cobb and Andrew Todd Editors, Farnham, Ashgate, 2015. ISBN 9781472434067
It is difficult to evaluate and sum up the message of a book with 24 chapters contributed by 30 authors. The book certainly succeeds in its stated aim of seeking “to contribute to and develop a systematic understanding of the developing phenomenon of chaplaincy”. The book is in six sections dealing with the context and key themes in chaplaincy followed by sections on chaplaincy in Health Care, Military, Prison and Education. The book gives a great deal of helpful information on the origins of chaplaincy in the various sections. The interdisciplinary approach works well and the more academic chapters are grounded by several case studies.
The book deals well with the tensions chaplains face in dealing with ministering in a secular environment rather than a church and parish. There is also the tension in serving two or more masters with different values including their institution and their own religious tradition. One airport chaplain was quoted: “I do not mention God in the course of a week”.
How chaplains interpret their role is discussed: “Some turn themselves into middle managers, bureaucrats…some regress and default back to earlier identities turning the shopping mall, prison or ship into ‘their parish’”. The question of how much of a prophetic role a chaplain should have, challenging practices and culture of the organization where they serve, is discussed. The statements that: “Many chaplains appeared to be refugees from the church” who are more at home as chaplains than they were in a parish or that “many chaplains had a negative experience of the institutional church” and that “they tended to be liberal by contrast with the evangelical domination of the church”, are asserted without evidence. Many would resonate with the thought that “Chaplains are liminal figures: there for all, accessed by some, understood by few”.
It was suggested that chaplains who are employed in the public sector may have to compromise their personal or church’s views on, for example, homosexuality and sexual behaviour to offer the non-discriminatory service expected of them and to be accepted as chaplains.
There are two helpful comments on the type of person likely to flourish in this ministry: “Above all, prison chaplains should be approachable, they must never proselytise, but through their words and actions they shine as advocates for their faith, and their faith communities” and “To be a chaplain in a prison requires a diverse set of qualities and gifts. It is not for those who wish to problem-solve, see quick results or who like to feel in control”.
What does a chaplain offer: prayer and presence are two things which emerge strongly from the book. A military chaplain commented: “Most of my soldiers are not devoutly religious, but a prayer to God in the midst of shock and grief appears to matter, and matter profoundly”. Another said, “You can pray with them sometimes but pray for them always”.
One chapter quotes Paul Tillich’s concept of having the ‘courage to be’, saying that chaplaincy is often more about being than doing. Phrases from the book like “a representative presence of God”, being “intentionally present with an evocative presence, comforting presence and hopeful presence” and “being alongside, being available” seem to get to the essence of this pastoral ministry. Similarly the idea of operating with “bold humility”.
It is noted that an “ethos of multifaith that now pervades the delivery of pastoral care in public institutions” and is argued that multifaith could be seen as “replacing Christianity as the face of public religion in Europe and America”. The result is that chaplains have to be able to work in that context. There is some useful information on the emergence of Muslim chaplaincy.
There is some discussion of the need for chaplains to sell themselves and provide evidence of the value they add and impact they make, so demonstrating their usefulness. The problem is that chaplaincy is “dealing in unquantifiable and indefinable outcomes” or as Slater asks: “Can the multilayered, constantly shifting and often ambiguous relational work of chaplaincy ever be measured?”
The weakness of the book – and I would say this – is the absence of explicit reference to sports chaplaincy, other than one mention as an example of the diversity. That said, there is a host of generic thinking on chaplaincy which can be applied to chaplaincy.
The book takes our understanding of chaplaincy forward.