What is Chaplancy?
Posted on 10. Sep, 2012 by Don007 in General
WHAT IS CHAPLAINCY?
Chaplaincy is an expression of ministry that places chaplains inside various settings, which include hospitals, corporations, prisons, public safety agencies, and the military services. As such, chaplaincy is an extension of the local church reaching into our diverse and multicultural society providing spiritual care to people. Chaplains perform the roles of pastor, teacher, evangelist, counselor, and administrator as they represent the church and the denomination from “inside” the using agency.
A chaplain is typically a priest, pastor, ordained deacon or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church, or who are unable to attend church for various reasons; such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties; lay chaplains are also found in other settings such as universities. For example a chaplain is often attached to a military unit (often known as padre), a private chapel, a ship, a prison, a hospital, a high school, college or especially boarding school, even a parliamentary assembly and so on. In recent years many non-ordained persons have received professional training in chaplaincy and are now appointed as chaplains in schools, hospitals, universities, prisons and elsewhere to work alongside of, instead of becoming ordained chaplains.
