In this occasional series we talk with several of our own Chaplains here in Hereford Diocese, offering a window into this fascinating and often moving role. For our Year of Engagement, we have been exploring ways that we as a Church take the message of a loving God out to those communities. For a Chaplain, the community where they work could be a place, such as a single school or care home, or it could be a dispersed community bound by a common thread, such as the local agricultural community – and there is a wide range of these communities in our diocese. As the national church says, “because chaplains are present with the 95% who will not regularly visit a place of worship, many people do encounter them and journey with chaplaincy as they explore questions of life and faith.”
If you are watching the new BBC series, King & Conqueror, you might have wondered about the propriety of a bishop seeming to fight alongside the Norman army. Odo of Bayeux, William of Normandy’s younger half-brother, was Bishop of Bayeux. The way he had himself depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry suggests he supported the troops from the rear, and this is what we more typically expect of our military chaplains today. Between 1066 and the 17th century, chaplaincy to the armed forces was a relatively informal affair, however in 1626, Charles I mandated that every ship of the fleet have a chaplain aboard. Army chaplains were officially authorised in 1796 and the RAF chaplaincy service emerged soon after the establishment of the force itself, in 1918. In all three services, they are typically styled as ‘Padre’, although navy chaplains are affectionately termed ‘Bish’.
Herefordshire’s Sea Cadets have a ‘Bish’ of their own, in the person of Rev’d Phill Brown, Rector of Burghill benefice. Rev’d Paul Roberts, pictured above, is Team Rector of the Maund Group benefice and one of two Chaplains to the Hereford and Worcester Army Cadet Force.
Phill says, “Not having a naval background myself, there was a lot of history and culture to come to terms with – such as the difference between a ship and a boat, command structures and rank. The Sea Cadets are not part of the Royal Navy and although they are linked, the Sea Cadets are not preparing children to join the Navy (only about 10% go on to naval careers). It’s much more about building character and nurturing development. Sea Cadets is a place where young people can be successful and find strength of character which they struggle to achieve in other settings such as formal education. It’s a place where they can flourish and it becomes a sort of peer support group. You may not be good at exams but at Sea Cadets you might be a respected team member, able to live up to your potential.
“Spirituality is deeply rooted in sea-faring life; that’s not to say all sailors or cadets are religious but Chaplains are respected and valued. We’re the contact point between the Church and the unit. I talk with cadets and instructors about faith and spirituality, I lead prayers. While the unit meets twice a week, I typically join them once a month. I chat with the cadets, go into their classes, teach activities such as knot tying. I attend the Colour Ceremonies in the morning and evening, known as ‘Waking the King Up and Putting the King to Bed’ – it’s a reminder that you are in service to the Crown. I’m seen as a trusted adult. I don’t ask too many questions about religion, I’m not there to get ‘converts’, but still the cadets will come up and tell me things, like ‘my family is Catholic and we go to church every week’. Rather I’m there to support the cadets in their journey of self-discovery, to help them find out who they are and what they are made of. Therein lies the mission of God.”
Despite managing a busy benefice, Paul says he makes time for his Army Cadet Force (ACF) chaplaincy because it is life-giving. “It connects me with an age group that we don’t see in church very often, and it’s an age group that is very spiritually curious. I spend a week with them at camp every year and it gives them an opportunity to ask questions they wouldn’t normally get to ask.”
Like Phill, Paul aims to meet the young cadets ‘where they are’ and says his chief function is one of welfare, as an independent listener. It’s also an interfaith role. Having made a prayer room available for a young Muslim cadet, he felt a huge sense of privilege and appreciated how important it was for the whole unit as well as the young cadet. That sense of privilege carries through to his work with all the cadets, many of whom have had a rough start in life. “Like the Sea Cadets, the ACF challenges the cadets and helps them find things they are good at,” says Paul. “It gives them chances at leadership, builds their confidence and enables them to talk with people in positions of authority, which can be really good in later life.”
He continues, “I try to visit our AFC detachments and get to activities throughout the year. If a cadet is struggling and asks to speak to a Padre, I’ll go along to an evening session and speak with them. We’re asked to come in by the leadership to offer a message of Christian hope, to talk about peace making and peace keeping as a way of balancing out the message. Just being present implies that spirituality is an important aspect in the character of every cadet. But the cadets definitely think in spiritual terms; they’re curious about such a range of issues, from the Judgement of Eve and feminist theology to whether there is a God, comparative religions, just war theory, and how you get to be a Padre. People in church seldom ask questions like that. They are a thoughtful generation, and at the last two camps the cadets themselves asked me to pray with them and give a reflection at the end of each day.
“The adult leadership engage with me as much as the cadets do, and see me very much as another team member, not someone parachuted in. We talk about human brokenness, about the God that is with ‘the stretcher bearers’, about the need to meet harmful intent with appropriate force. We talk about how the values of the ACF – moral courage, integrity, respect and leadership map onto Christian discipleship and how the decision to explore the armed forces is a moral decision in the first place.
“Chaplains are there to help the armed forces do the job they’re there to do and to assure them that God is always there to help them make the right decisions, while knowing that that the bigger military decisions lie elsewhere.”
If you are interested to find out more about armed forces chaplaincy, please email Archdeacon Derek Chedzey who is our armed forces champion.
ENDS