What follows is my response to that:
A Chaplain’s role is to be with a person in their time of need and provide spiritual and/or practical support without fear or favour. In other words...
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... a good Christian Chaplain should be able to serve a Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jew, Atheist or Christian of differing denomination and simply be Christ to them. In fact I would suggest...
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...that this is spreading the “Gospel” (ie good news). What is good news to a sick person in a hospital; or an LGBTQI+ kid in a school; or a service person in the defence force; and so on...? That in their time of need...
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...someone cares for them and loves them WITHOUT ANY AGENDA but simply because they are a human being who deserves that care in that moment. And if they need care of a differing faith or belief system to mine and I cannot provide what they ask...
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...then the best way I can care for them is to put them in contact with an Imam or Rabbi or Priest or Pastor of Psychologist/Counsellor who can. That is what they need in that moment - not some self-righteous a-hole preaching at them on their bedside.
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I know that such a response may come as a shock to some Christians and many not-Christians. But I am passionate about good Chaplaincy; and unfortunately what good Chaplains do is undermined by the kind of Chaplaincy Chrissy refers to in the original post.
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I kind of fell into Chaplaincy, but I had amazing role models and mentors. I grew up an Army kid and nearly came to serve myself. And all the way along, it was military Chaplains who served our family and the families of others in ways that spoke more about God’s love...
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...for humanity than any sermon or tract ever would. And I can share countless stories, personal and third party, in hospitals, schools, trenches, police stations, streets with homeless and so on where the last thing a Chaplain cared about was preaching...
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...and the thing they cared about most was the person or peoplein front of them. Let’s get real - God does not need me to convince anyone about God and coerce them into believing in God. But God has called us to love God; and love God by loving others.
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And I imagine the reputation of religion and God would be so much better received if we did what Jesus told us to do in the first place (which in case you missed the last Tweet above is to love).
If you truly believe the world needs God, and God is love, give it love...
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...& leave everything else to God. And if you don’t believe in God, or believe in God differently to me, let me assure you despite any differences we have, if you bleed, you are human & I will love you in the way you need to be in that moment. Nothing more, nothing less.
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End.
Sorry...one more thing:
A shout out to all the Chaplains/Pastoral Carers out there from all faiths, beliefs, backgrounds and none. May you continue to do amazing work as you meet the needs of those in your care wherever you are.
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#chaplaincy #chaplains