Foundations of Chaplaincy

A Practical Guide

Alan T. Baker

• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780802877499
• eBook ISBN: 9781467461092
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

An approachable overview of the nature, purpose, and functional roles of chaplaincy  

Chaplaincy is unlike any other kind of ministry. It involves working outside a church, without a congregation, usually in a secular organization. It requires ministering to those with starkly different religious convictions, many of whom may never enter a house of worship. It is, as Alan Baker writes, "ministry in motion." Those who are embarking upon this unique and specialized call deserve equally unique and specialized guidance, and  Foundations of Chaplaincy offers exactly that. 

Baker surveys the biblical and theological foundations of chaplaincy before enumerating four specific responsibilities and skills that define chaplaincy's "ministry of presence": providing, facilitating, caring, and advising. Baker's thorough guidance on these matters is supplemented in sidebars with practical advice and anecdotes from over thirty chaplains currently serving in a variety of settings and organizations. 

Chaplains who serve in healthcare, the military, correctional institutions, police and fire departments, sports teams, college campuses, and corporations have essential roles to play in their respective organizations, but theirs is rarely an easy calling. With  Foundations of Chaplaincy as an introduction and an ongoing reference, those called to this important vocation may be assured of having the tools they need to cultivate a strong, mission-driven pastoral identity rooted in their own theological tradition while simultaneously participating in a multi-faith team.

CHAPTER 1

The Foundations of Chaplaincy

In thanksgiving to the living God for all ministers who have borne the hot coal of his Word upon their lips and in their lives.

—Inscription at Washington National Cathedral

1.1 The Call to Ministry and the Call of Chaplaincy

In a perfect world, all would embrace their vocation and flourish in it. God’s plan for Adam and Eve was to place them “in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15).¹ In the beginning, Adam and Eve thrived in their God-given occupation. But now, due to the Fall, our sinful nature obscures the truth and we no longer feel the same absolute assurance of our calling as Adam and Eve did. However, God still calls us to work in his world.

Those in professional ministry are most satisfied when they feel a genuine sense of God’s calling toward their vocation. This is especially urgent and significant for chaplain ministry. Chaplains serve on the frontier of the church and are typically distanced from the center of the very faith community that endorses them for chaplaincy. As a chaplain, your ministry seeks a firm foundation that confirms your calling by God to this special work. You will not only need to rely on this foundation in times of stress, but you also will be frequently called upon to articulate and justify your calling to the people and institutions you serve. Therefore, the decision to enter chaplaincy requires a discernment process, starting with an assessment of your motivations, which are always complicated.

Motivation and Calling

Theologians continue to ponder the connection between human motivation and divine calling. Chaplains are fueled by a divine call to extend compassion outward toward others. This vocation is best demonstrated by a horizontal extension of ministry to others. Frederick Buechner captures the thought in his definition of vocation: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”² He sees connective tissue between our inner Spirit-inspired passions and external opportunities to exercise our gifts in a productive way. Buechner understands that we are all searching for a purpose that only God can give.

I think it’s good advice for most seminarians to start in the parish setting, but maybe there are some for whom chaplaincy is the right place to begin. I especially think of women, who do not have as many opportunities open to them in parish ministry, and chaplaincy is where they feel called. Experiencing parish ministry is important, but establishing a connection to the church is essential to chaplaincy.

—Correctional/Prison Chaplain

Os Guinness further unpacks calling and motivation: “Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to [God’s] summons and service.”³ Guinness offers these comforting words as he provides direction to our activity: “We are not primarily called to do something or go somewhere; we are called to Someone.”⁴ Our motivation is focused toward responding to God’s initiative. He invites us into relationship with him and not into our activities. Instead of identifying yourself by saying, “You are what you do,” calling says, “Do what you are.”⁵

These working definitions of calling move us toward greater confidence and resolve as we develop a sense of our own vocation. It may be helpful to imagine calling as a balanced teeter-totter, with giftedness on one end and stewardship of talent and energy on the other. The risks of getting this teeter-totter off balance are high. If we allow our giftedness to lead us away from stewardship toward selfishness, we may fall into the trap of believing we are entitled and not simply entrusted with the gifts God has bestowed in us and through us toward others.

There is a healthy way of discerning calling, which is a two-part process. The first criterion of evaluating a potential call to vocational ministry is through affirmation. The second criterion is the actual call of ministry through confirmation. While both are required, they are not necessarily sequential. In the process of discernment, affirmation and confirmation are spun together like strands of rope providing strength and confidence as you grasp your calling.

Affirmation and Confirmation

Affirmation comes from people you trust, who live around you, who see you as you are Monday through Saturday as well as Sunday. These people are close to you. They communicate to you that you are setting your life’s purpose in the right direction. In the Bible, a terrific example of affirmation is Paul’s commendation of Timothy: “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare” (Phil. 2:19–20). Paul was seeking to minister to the Philippians through Timothy. He was also affirming Timothy as a minister so earnestly concerned for their welfare that there was, in Paul’s estimation, simply no one like him. Through Paul’s affirmation, Timothy’s own calling became clearer. He became aware of his gifts and more confident in his practice of those gifts.

On the other hand, confirmation is something that grows as you spend time doing what you are doing. It is putting your shoulder to the wheel and leaning hard into the opportunities that attract you. Yet instead of bruising your shoulder, you discover your muscles growing stronger in the process. It is measuring, both through anecdotal evidence and quantitative comparisons, whether the use of your talents is growing or shrinking. A biblical example of measurement comparisons is found in this parable: “The master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’ ” (Matt. 25:19–21). The supervisor found greater value in talents that were exercised. Talents are measured on the basis of their investment. A valuable talent is worthless if unused. Confidence in your calling to chaplaincy is confirmed as your ministry strengthens over time.

As you discern confirmation of a valid call, reflect whether your aspirations are legitimate, measurable, and reasonable: “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’ ” (Luke 14:28–30). The confirmation of the tower-builder is not whether he commenced the project but whether he completed it. Was it a soundly built structure? Did it do what he intended it to do? Was its purpose to be a landmark, a lighthouse, or a fortress? Did he build the top of the tower facing outward toward unknown enemies, or did he build a safety tower facing inward so that the smoke of a building fire could be spotted? Whether you are constructing a tower on the border or preparing for chaplain ministry on the frontier, confirmation looks at the result of your experience. Did your experience teaching a religious-education class have positive effects on you, your family, and the participants? Did your preparation and delivery of a sermon bother you or bless you?

When I first considered chaplaincy as a path for my future, my adviser recommended I enroll in Koine Greek before resigning my undergraduate teaching position to become a full-time seminary student. With fear and trepidation, I enrolled in Greek at a nearby Bible college and quickly realized what over-commitment looked like, as I now had classes to teach and classes to take. My mind flooded with rationalizations: I didn’t have time for this course. The commute was long. Students were robbed of my prep time. There was too much vocabulary to learn. Yet I unexpectedly thrived. As I developed an unnatural passion for learning an ancient language, I realized I couldn’t have developed this delight for Greek on my own. I sensed my joy was a gift of confirmation from the Lord, and a good grade at the end of the first semester validated this confirmation with a quantifiable metric. I was heading in the right direction.

—Prospective Chaplain

Another way of looking at the difference between affirmation and confirmation is by viewing your intent before you begin a project and then reviewing the consequences of your labor. Affirmation is the front door. It focuses on your intent. People you trust affirm your calling alongside the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit. Trusted people look at your intentions and affirm them. Confirmation is the back door. It looks at the result of your potential calling through your activity.

Affirmation of your calling may not always come from family or faith-filled people. There are many sources of affirmation. The key is a trusted source. For example, when I became a Christian aboard my first ship, my desires changed and my interests were redirected. Not long after my conversion, my reckless roommate told me I was no longer much fun. I received his charge with laughter because he inadvertently affirmed that the Holy Spirit was moving my life in a new direction.

Affirmation is proactive, and confirmation is a reactive response to the impact you’ve experienced in ministry. You go into the wilderness of society, putting one foot forward—starting seminary toward the chaplain ministry you feel called to do—and then you assess how it goes. Like a slalom racer, you must pass through a number of gates as you confirm your ministry: your experience at seminary, your graduation from seminary, your ordination by your faith group, your acceptance to become a chaplain, each annual evaluation by your organization, and your joy in life that you experience along the way.

When I transitioned from chaplaincy, I struggled to pursue another calling. I really missed chaplaincy, but it was time to retire. Then I received a timely note from my daughter: “Dad, pray to be spent. Give all you can. Don’t die with anything in the reserves. Don’t retire knowing you could have done more. God has raised you up with the experiences you have not to waste. When you look for your next position, ask yourself: Can someone else do the job just as well as you when you can do something no one else can do?” My daughter gave me the gift of affirmation. As a result, my calling migrated from chaplain to chaplain advocate.

—Ecclesiastical Endorser of Chaplains

Chaplaincy is a process of calling followed by commissioning. Whereas the calling comes from God, commissioning comes from the hiring organization. In the US military, it is not only expected but also required that all new chaplains be commissioned as officers to the specific role of chaplain. These are individuals previously earmarked and set aside by their faith groups as clergy who are now moving to a commission within a specialized ministry of chaplaincy. N. T. Wright confirms this two-step process in the ministry of Paul: “[Paul] is also making it clear that his call and commissioning have placed him in the ancient prophetic tradition, whether of Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Elijah himself.”⁶ Transformed, Paul moved from persecutor to proclaimer. Prospective chaplains move from being called by God, to being confirmed by their faith group, and finally to being commissioned by an institution.

While ordination happens only once in a chaplain’s ministry, a chaplain is commissioned to a specific role each time he starts employment with a particular organization. When a chaplain departs from an organization, he is no longer commissioned to that role, though he remains ordained. He can receive another commission upon subsequent employment. Commissioning is exemplified in the Bible when Joshua succeeds Moses. As part of the transfer of authority, Moses “took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses” (Num. 27:22–23). A chaplain must confirm his calling before being commissioned. If someone is commissioned without a calling, then many people within the organization, including the chaplain, will suffer.

The concept of commissioning means a minister has an identifiable beginning point in chaplaincy. It could be a military commission certificate or an appointment letter presented by the hiring institution. A commission also has an expected ending, when the minister no longer serves the organization as a chaplain. The end date, whether due to reassignment, retirement, or resignation, signifies the completion of the commission. You may retain your calling to ministry, but you will serve in a different venue.

There are many ministry opportunities and contexts. Ask yourself if God is calling you to serve in the unique context of chaplaincy. No matter how much you might be motivated, not every opportunity in front of you is a calling. Discern your calling through affirmation and confirmation. Chaplaincy may be where God is commissioning you to exercise your unique gifts in a deeply meaningful way.

Building Below the Waterline

Before we look at chaplaincy in depth, there is another aspect of calling for you to explore. In the book Building Below the Waterline: Shoring Up the Foundations of Leadership, Gordon MacDonald explores a “menu of motives”⁷ that are not made by God. MacDonald includes our need for approval, validation from achievement, hubris born from success, and an undisciplined pursuit for more. He knows better than most pastors the need to discern our motivations: “I am no stranger to failure and public humiliation. From those terrible moments of twenty years ago in my own life I have come to believe that there is a deeper person in many of us who is not unlike an assassin…. If you have been burned as deeply as I (and my loved ones) have, you never live a day without remembering that there is something within that, left unguarded, will go on the rampage.”⁸ His ministry imploded because of his self-centered impulse. But God graciously restored his calling and gave him another commission. Whereas MacDonald once served out of his words and deeds, he now ministers from his wounds. Chastened by his experience, MacDonald is very attuned to the ways in which pastors and other Christian leaders are tempted to derail and crash.

He repeats an analogy throughout his book, borrowed from Washington Roebling, chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was part of Roebling’s annual report to the bridge company in June 1872. To the casual observer, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge seemed slow, which is not a well-received word in Manhattan. New Yorkers tend to appreciate speed and acceleration, so the public was frustrated at the bridge builders. Roebling responded: “To such of the general public as might imagine that no work has been done on the New York tower, because they see no evidence of it above the water, I should simply remark that the amount of the masonry and concrete laid on that foundation during the past winter, under water, is equal in quantity to the entire masonry of the Brooklyn tower visible today above the waterline.”⁹

MacDonald’s point is that you have to build below the waterline before you see visible and tangible evidence of the work above the surface. This is important to consider as you ponder your calling and potential commission as a chaplain. Opportunities like seminary, professional conferences, journals, and workshops emphasize leadership themes such as developing vision, core competencies, strategies, and increasing individual and institutional capacities. This is all beneficial, yet the majority of these opportunities are focused above the waterline. They appeal to our public persona and not our private self. As MacDonald says,...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. The Foundations of Chaplaincy
• 2. The Chaplain as Provider
• 3. The Chaplain as Facilitator
• 4. The Chaplain as Caregiver
• 5. The Chaplain as Adviser
• 6. Bringing It All Together
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A Organizations and Settings Typically Served by Chaplains
• Appendix B Scenarios and Case Studies
• Appendix C Sample Clinical Pastoral Education Verbatim
• Appendix D Checklist for New Chaplains: Moving From Parish Ministry to Chaplaincy
• Appendix E Helping Churches and Employers Understand the Difference Between Chaplains and Pastors
• Glossary
• Notes
• Bibliography