Chaplaincy and Scripture

Kate Bradford

What is the relationship between Chaplaincy in the public space and scripture? At the very centre of Christian Chaplaincy is the word. The word orientates the chaplain in the world; the word directs the chaplain’s internal life and the word informs the chaplain’s ministry. Chaplaincy involves engagement with the world, fellowship with the church and communication with others beyond the reach of the local church.

Chaplains minister in a world created by the Word – chaplains are people who have been remade by the Word having accepted the offer a hope found in Jesus. A hope encapsulated in the message of scripture conveyed by a range of differing literary and narrative styles. 

1. It is the task of chaplaincy to engage with the world around, and to understand the relationship between word and world. The understanding draws on both the relationship between the people of God and the Nations in the Old Testament, and the followers of Jesus and the different societies surrounding them. Clarity is needed around the nature of the engagement, of what it is and what it is not. For example chaplaincy is neither evangelism nor structured teaching; it not advocacy, welfare or counselling but it is rather faithful engagement with the wider world, and exercise of civility and seeking the common good and an offer of radical hospitality and sharing of transforming hope in Jesus.

2. Chaplaincy ministry is an extension of the ministry of the local church. Chaplains are members of covenantal fellowships where the word of God is taught, believed and lived. Chaplains are in deep connection with their heavenly Father, in fellowship with other members of the community and have an honest assessment of their own spiritual life. All chaplaincies are firstly a ministry of prayer. Chaplains share out of an abundance of their transformed Christian lives not out of scarcity or absence; chaplains have accepted the hope of Jesus and live lives that respond to this hope and grace. There is no chaplaincy that is separate from Jesus and his fellowship of believers.

3. Chaplaincy ministry is cross-cultural communication. Crossing culture occurs at two levels, firstly the chaplain is crossing over into another person’s world and experience. Secondly chaplaincy is offered at times of change, dislocation and trauma, and the recipients themselves are often away from home and familiar circumstances struggling with a form of culture-shock. Chaplaincy is offered to people experiencing some form of loss due to internment, hospitalisation, aging, failing health, deployment, relocation and displacement. The combination of cultural change and loss means most people being contacted are also vulnerable people.    

The chaplains form connections and communities within this space of loss of cultural dislocation. Listening to another is vital to forming connections and communication requiring great sensitivity to the needs and concerns of the other.  To be able to prayerfully share the hope of Jesus in the midst of loss and disorientation requires that the chaplain have a solid grasp of the diversity of biblical genres and styles. Spiritual communication requires the ability to work with both the the narrative of scripture and with people who have little or no familiarity with scripture or conversely those who know God but feel that he has abandoned them.     

Chaplaincy is an interdisciplinary ministry that overlaps with the humanities and social sciences. As such the study of chaplaincy requires acceptance of and familiarity with requirements and regulations of the public space.  Self-awareness and personal development are critical keys to safe ministry. Communication in chaplaincy borrows from the fields of linguistics, narrative studies, grief and loss models and learning styles in addition to mission studies, spiritual formation, biblical studies and theology.

In any system of chaplaincy training there must be rigour and wisdom around the use of social and psychological models used and continuing evaluation of these models against scripture with reference to chaplaincy engagement in the public space, chaplaincy as an activity and extension of the fellowship of the local church and chaplaincy as communication of the transforming hope that only Jesus brings.