Being new is an experience to savour! Your appointment will have been an occasion when your own sense of God’s calling was met by the choice and approval of others. This then, for the time being at least, is where you belong; it is worth giving some time to weigh this sense of vocation as ‘home’.
Being new can bring a sense of disorientation, geographically of course, but deeper a sense of being lost in an open-ended task and confronting a complex and sizeable organisation. It might be that your beginning coincides with particular and clear demands: induction talks and materials to prepare; liturgy to be created for a memorial service; a lecture or talk to compose. But sooner or later being new will also mean gazing around your freshly-organised office and wondering: ‘What now?’ Outside the office one can also feel like an observer, like a spectator without a part. In such circumstances the self feels vulnerable, yet this vulnerability is a precious gift; it can breakdown our defence mechanisms and open us to others and to God with fresh vitality and authenticity.
There’s a glorious freedom to being new. Entering a shared space such as a staff common room one can sit anywhere and talk to anyone because you enter without presuppositions and assumptions. Once you have become a familiar figure you will struggle to ever regain that degree of unconstrained relationship, perhaps only finding something like it with those who are new themselves.
Resist the temptation to justify yourself through actively seeking things to be doing. Being new is a time to prioritise relationships. Get to know people first; doing comes later, naturally and soon enough! One of the most significant aspects of your role is the opportunity you have to model being human in a context that can all too easily de-humanise through the considerable, stressful demands it places on people. Our universities are increasing places of frenetic change and work; don’t rush to fit in!
Remember that Chaplaincy is an intensely personal task and its ‘performance’ rightly idiosyncratic. And not only is every chaplain different so also is every university context. This means that you cannot easily simply follow what others do or have done. Even within your own institution it is important to quickly come to terms with the ‘ghost’ of your predecessor; you will need to be yourself.
Typically, Church University chaplains are structurally located within, or very close to, the Vice-Chancellor’s office. This affords you a power which is both more and less than you might think: attempts to use it directly may fail, but inordinate significance can be attached to your behaviours and attitudes. Take time to learn how to use it wisely.
Be on the lookout for allies. They may well come from unexpected places. Some in the Heath Faculty will be interested in what you have to say about spirituality; some in the Business Department about your understanding of ethics. Some of the best information and insight you will receive will come from the security staff and cleaning staff: look after them!
Lastly, there is no one, single view of your role held in the institution. Various individuals and various groups will have their own peculiar expectations. And in relation to these expectations there can sometimes be an uncomfortable disjunction between what you and others assume your calling means and requires. So we return to where we began: developing and holding a strong sense of your vocation is vital. You hold the position you do because you have been called and chosen: “Fear not…I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isa 43:1).
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