Chaplaincy can sometimes be a lonely calling. Not all of us are fortunate enough to work in teams with paid and permanent colleagues. Yet ministry in the name of the Trinitarian God, the God of eternal, pulsating, loving relation, struggles to be authentically instantiated by the lone labourer. Here pragmatic considerations can also complement theological reflection. It is a welcome tonic to have a colleague that can tell you that one’s seeming failure actually went quite well, and what one thought was a conspicuous success was of more dubious merit. I’ve also appreciated the colleague who has told me to go home and recover, when I’ve been struggling along in a pseudo-heroic fashion with some illness. Perhaps, best of all, a colleague gives you permission to be yourself, to rest content with your own peculiar gifts and interests and not attempt to stray too far out of character for the sake of some attempted comprehensiveness. The foundational gift and blessing of a colleague is that they are not you!
If one finds oneself essentially working alone, or there is a desire to increase and develop the chaplaincy team, in a context without additional financial resources then one response is the creation of various partnerships. The overriding consideration, however, should be organic augmentation not artificial expansion. One needs to look for naturally allies and mutually positive ‘symbiotic’ relationships. With this in mind there are a number of sources of potential colleagues of different hues.
- It can be worth considering the discovery of ‘chaplaincy ambassadors’ from within the staff of the institution, possibly one for each major faculty or division. Such persons can help interpret chaplaincy to their working associates and also be a vital source of information close to the ground. Both recruitment and the degree to which such persons are made publically identifiable, however needs careful consideration and discernment.
- Significant local churches which attract (or have ambitions to attract) large numbers of students often employ recent graduates as student workers (interns). A relationship with the chaplaincy can both be a source of vital support and entree into the Institution for such interns (who can feel both isolated and bewildered by the task ahead of them) as well as a resource for chaplaincy programmes.
- Likewise, ministers of local churches are a source of potential ‘Chaplaincy Associates’ where their work has a strong university focus. It is likely that the best partnerships will grow out of already developing relationships rather than through an imposed recruitment initiative. Given the existence of sufficient mutual sympathy, this category may well extend to UCCF Staff and relay workers.
The multi-campus institution provides a distinct context in which colleagues are especially valuable. Trying to cover more than one campus through regular travelling, and perhaps an ‘a-day-a-week presence’, is never wholly satisfactory. In such a role it is almost impossible to escape the categorisation of ‘visitor’, and however conscientious and well-intentioned, one can struggle to engender the same sense of ‘belonging’ – and with this the perceived guaranteed availability – of someone who is rooted in a particular location. Discovering someone who, without precluding the possibility of visits by others, can be seen as ‘the chaplain’ for a particular campus can thus be extraordinarily advantageous. This is not least because in the inevitably ambiguous and varied relationships that exist between the perceived ‘centre’ and the satellite campus ‘periphery’, the local chaplain holds a very positive ambassadorial role on behalf of the ‘margin’.
Beyond Christian colleagues, there are also significant advantages in creating a team of ‘Faith Advisers’ (from within or if need be without the university) for the various world faiths represented by the university community. While the exact relationship between chaplaincy and faith advisers demands very careful clarification, such persons can both free one to be fully Christian (rather than some quasi faiths administrator) while also providing a very welcome sounding board and the opportunity to engage in, and so model, constructive inter-faith dialogue.
For those beyond the Institution, a non-pay contract can provide necessary compliance with safeguarding requirements, the required degree of mutual accountability (through periodic review), and tools such as a university email address and library card that can aid access and belonging.
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