i.Why be a (church) university chaplain?

The university environment affords a particularly stimulating and rich context in which to exercise one’s vocation as an authorised minister. For some it can be a place of growth following a curacy, for others a site of refreshment from parochial (or other) ministry, for still others it will be their primary locus of ministry.

During July 2013, at three regional gatherings of existing church university chaplains, the question, ‘Why be a university chaplain?’ was put to the assembled groups. These were the responses offered.   

• Freedom to fulfil one’s vocation: liberated from concerns about buildings, graveyards, burgeoning administrative demands and the seemingly endless rounds of fund-raising, chaplaincy sets one free to fulfil what one was ordained (or authorised) to do.
• To proclaim the Gospel: in an environment where thought and argument matter, one is called upon to publically defend the integrity of theology and uphold the name of Jesus Christ. The university can become a ‘Court of the Gentiles’ (a current Vatican initiative inspired by the idea of the Outer Court of the Jerusalem Temple as a place where Gentiles could engage Jewish Scribes on matters of religion in open conversation and debate). That is, it can become a space for ‘respectful friendly encounter with people of differing convictions’, where encouragement is offered to seek after the God already known or as yet unknown.
• To be creative: a university chapel is a place for experiment, there is space for imaginative working both alongside and beyond existing patterns of church (akin to that required of pioneer ministry). Here past custom has little hold; a tradition is simply what happened last year. There is always the chance for new beginnings and fresh opportunities.
• To reach beyond the church: in chaplaincy one escapes the ‘Christian enclosure’ and is privileged to engage those who would never consider relating to the church. In particular one can encounter and work with the so-called ‘missing generation’ of 18 -30 year olds. As Giles Legood has it, “[Chaplains] are paid to spend their working lives with those who are not church members (those whom the church claims it most wants to reach)” (Chaplaincy, 1999, p.ix).
• To assist the formation of persons: chaplaincy offers the chance to make a difference to people at an important time of personal transition.
• Family friendly: Chaplaincy allows the members of one’s family to find their own accommodation to one’s ministry in a context almost completely devoid of expectation concerning them.
• An invigorating environment: university chaplaincy means working with some of the most creative and engaging people in the country, with those from all across the globe, with those of different faiths and beliefs, and all in an environment marked by openness and enthusiasm. Not only does this inspire, but it also puts one on one’s mettle as one is called to ‘always be prepared to give an account of the hope that one has in Christ’ (1 Pet 3:15).

Yet, as one would expect, there is also a potential cost to bear in mind:

• Absence of momentum: one constantly has to reconstitute the Chapel community and enliven and refresh the chaplaincy programme of events. The reverse side of enjoying unprecedented flexibility is that there is almost no inertia to carry one forward from year to year.
• Identity called in question: many of those one is paid to work with and for will have very little sense of your point or purpose; some will be decidedly antithetical. Additionally, one has to sustain one’s priestly (or ministerial) identity in the absence of the continuity of a verifying worshipping community.
• Second-class citizens: in the context of a church made anxious by reducing numbers of stipendiary clergy, falling congregations, and an inability to maintain the parish network without continual retrenchment and restructuring, chaplaincy can be viewed as an unwanted distraction calling in question the unity of the parochial model and drawing away resources from hard-pressed parochial clergy. Others will view it as an escape from the ‘real work’ of, or a ‘break’ away from, the church’s core business. Remain in chaplaincy too long and one can seriously jeopardise one’s future options for ministry.