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This blog is part of a mini-series of blogs that looks at the idea of Christian Social Liturgy as outlined in Theos’ ten-year anniversary report Doing Good: A future for Christianity in the 21st century, and explores what it means and what it might look like in practice. Today, it’s Natan Mladin on:
Chaplaincy as Christian Social Liturgy
The story of one of our recent reports on chaplaincy goes something like this: once upon a time, chaplains were mostly Anglican, working mainly in hospitals, the military, universities, and prisons. You’ll still find them there, but a lot has changed in recent years. Chaplaincy has been spreading and evolving in significant and unexpected ways, reflecting and responding to large scale cultural changes, not least changes around the role and the perceived legitimacy (or lack of thereof) of religion in British public life.
From operating as an extension of the parish model, modern chaplaincy now functions according to a variety of models – theological and secular – in very diverse settings: sports clubs, town centres, lifeboats, and workplaces, to name just a few. There are Christian chaplains from a variety of denominations and chaplains from other faiths as well. They continue to understand their role primarily in terms of providing ‘pastoral care and support’ wherever they are, but the specifics of what they do, and how they do it vary widely.
The first blog in this series explained the concept of ‘Christian Social Liturgy’ (CSL) as used in our latest report Doing Good. The argument behind CSL is simple: what God has joined together let no man put asunder. Gospel (Good news) and good deeds of service (social action) belong together, the latter being an outworking of the former. Christian social liturgy refers to the myriad acts of service which followers of Jesus, as recipients of God’s very own service, perform in order to address the spiritual and material needs of others in the wider society, thereby bearing witness, in deed and word, to the love of God in Christ.
Christian chaplaincy is just one among many ways in which Christian Social Liturgy can be – and indeed is being – put into practice. A particularly illuminating way of thinking about Christian chaplaincy is through the lens of the Incarnation. At the heart of the Christian Gospel is the story of how God became one of us, speaking our language and meeting us where we were, in our strife and struggles. He came not to judge, nor simply to share in our miseries and misfortune, but to give himself selflessly even unto the point of death – so that humanity may experience fullness of life.
In their work, Christian chaplains follow the pattern of the Incarnation, even if – pun partly intended - crucial differences remain between Jesus (as God’s Chaplain to Humanity) and Christian chaplains. Following the pattern of the incarnation, Christian chaplains will fully identify with and make themselves available to specific places, among particular people with particular needs: not to judge and condemn, but to care and to serve in and through relationships of trust and openness, and thereby testify to the transformative love of God.
Chaplains work in particular settings, institutional and otherwise, under specific legal and practical arrangements. This naturally adds layers of complexity and challenges. The incarnational model is, nonetheless, practicable and indeed, practiced throughout the UK. Here are brief descriptions of two chaplaincy settings followed by some thoughts on what an incarnational model of chaplaincy as Christian Social Liturgy might look like.
There are still many prison chaplains who work as full time members of staff, in accordance with the 1952 Prisons Act requirement, but the vast majority within prison chaplaincy are volunteers. They are present in the prison environment, open and available to care for the needs of those deprived of liberty, regardless of faith or belief – to “serve those incarcerated by the courts by valuing their whole person, body, and soul” . They build bonds between prisoners and churches for support and help with integration upon the release of the prisoners. Through their work they speak powerfully – through action and words – to the whole prison environment of a vision of humanity that does not reduce people to their worst (mis)deeds, but offers hope and affirmation in the love of God practically demonstrated.
Theatre chaplains have been around since the end of the 19th century. In 1879 Revd. Steward Headlam formed the The Church and Stage Guild to remove prejudices “felt by religious people against the Stage, and by theatrical people against the Church” (http://www.theatrechaplaincyuk.com/abouta.html)
The pioneering project went through various iterations, being known for many years as the Actors’ Church Union. From 2012 this became Theatre Chaplaincy UK. Like chaplains in other setting, chaplains to the theatre are present to offer pastoral support to the entire theatre staff. From actors to make-up artists and doormen, all have the listening ear of a theatre chaplain.
These forms of chaplaincies are ‘incarnational’ insofar as chaplains go out of their comfort zone to be present and active in unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable contexts. There, they build relationships of selfless, non-judgmental service and care for all whom they encounter, whatever their faith or need. However, for their work to be an expression of Christian Social Liturgy, rather than mere ‘social action’ or the usually (and deliberately?) vague ‘pastoral care’, chaplains will seek to actively maintain theological self-awareness - who they are (identity & vocation) and what they are to do (role & action) in light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the mission of God.
This will shape both the form, and the content of the pastoral care chaplains provide; the attitude and the actions entailed in their work. As a result, chaplaincy will be a form of Christian Social Liturgy, where the active commitment of chaplains to the people they serve – from prisoners, to actors, seafarers and shoppers – is firmly rooted in, and continually shaped by the Gospel of radical love.
Natan Mladin is a Researcher at Theos | @nathanmladin
Next in our mini-series: Paul Bickley on Christian Social Liturgy and faith-based social innovation. Read it here
Image by Julija RauluševiÄiÅ«tÄ—, via Flickr, available under this Creative Commons licence
