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Issue no.138 On being a chaplain

Chaplains and the parochial ministry

Giles Legood

Abstract: In England the relationship between place and pastoral care has a history dating back a thousand years. Recently however the emphasis of the Church’s ministry has shifted. With fewer people living and working in just one area throughout their lives, the historical attachment to a church building in which they were baptised, married and buried has altered profoundly. Local churches have become more congregational in feel and mission and ministry to those outside the church’s boundaries has diminished. Clergy working as chaplains however are often able to maintain a link between pastoral care and place. In addition chaplaincies play their part in keeping alive the tradition of the Church caring for all, regardless of their religious beliefs.

The significance of the spirituality of the mental health chaplain within the pastoral relationship

Lorna Murray

Abstract: The pastoral relationship is influenced significantly by the spirituality of the mental health chaplain. It is, however, the needs of the one struggling with mental health problems which should be the determining factor within the pastoral relationship. This article suggests that relationships that are interdependent are crucial to growth towards mental health and fullness of life, and that the chaplain’s understanding of the relationship of three, as understood both in object relations theory and in the theology of the trinity, can enable the development of such interdependent relationships.

‘Thanks for the memory…’ Death of a student: memorials, mourning and postmodernity

Simon Robinson

Abstract: This article explores how chaplains might provide pastoral and spiritual care for the bereaved after a student death. It argues that the preparation and practice of memorial services provide an effective and meaningful way of providing this care in a postmodern context. It suggests that this might be an approach that could be explored in parish work as well as in Higher Education.

Healing narratives in the context of a performed life

David Aldridge

Abstract: The natural science base of modern medicine, which in turn influences the way in which modern medicine is delivered, often ignores the spiritual factors associated with health. Health invariably becomes defined in anatomical or physiological, psychological or social terms. Rarely do we find diagnoses which include the relationship between the patient and their God. Patience, grace, prayer, meditation, hope, forgiveness and fellowship are as important in many of our health initiatives as medication, hospitalisation or surgery.

It is in the understanding of suffering, the universality of suffering and the need for deliverance from it that varying traditions of medicine and religion meet. What I am arguing for is within that pluralistic system of health care delivery we accept some patients and practitioners will want to express their understandings of health, illness, recovery and treatment in terms that are spiritual, as well as physical, psychological and social. Further, some patients and practitioners will want to participate in forms of healing that include spiritual considerations within a pluralistic context of modern health care delivery.