A school chaplain fills many roles, from teaching classes to providing pastoral care and spiritual guidance to students, staff, and parents. Their work involves promoting student well-being through activities like counseling, supporting extracurricular programs, and facilitating connections to community resources. Studies show that principals, students, and staff highly value the contributions of chaplains in building school morale and appropriately addressing issues like bullying, relationships, and mental health concerns. A chaplain's role in a school needs to be clearly defined so they can effectively support the community while respecting its diversity and operating within appropriate professional boundaries regarding issues like confidentiality.

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Chaplain in a School
A Chaplain in a School Setting
Corey LaForge
City Vision University
CVC 407
Ian Howarth
5/2/2018

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Chaplain in a School
No two days are alike. A school chaplain’s schedule may include teaching classes,
attending a meeting, paying a pastoral visit to a student in the hospital, leading a worship
service, or even coaching a team. Sometimes all of the above occur on a single day. Many
would agree that it’s not just a job but a calling even for non-clergy. Being a chaplain in a school
consists of their work as being a sacred trust and a profoundly valued position that is also unlike
any other on campus. The chaplain likely leads spiritual life programs at school, but he or she
must have a team to be successful. For schools affiliated with a faith, the chaplain may embody
the very identity of the school.
Chaplains identified understanding, tolerance, inclusion, care, compassion, honesty,
trustworthiness and integrity as most important to them personally and professionally.
Chaplains provide spiritual and emotional support to school communities. They are in the
prevention and support business: helping students find a better way to deal with issues ranging
from family breakdown and loneliness to drug abuse, depression, and suicide. They provide a
listening ear and a caring presence for kids in crisis and those who just need a friend. They also
provide support for staff and parents in school communities. Reflective practice offers a way for
the school chaplain to identify and demonstrate: to themselves, to their colleagues, to
employers and to the wider community; that in their role, they are being increasingly effective.
School chaplains are active in promoting student wellbeing, particularly through the
provision of pastoral care. School chaplain encourage reflection about the spiritual dimensions
of life. School chaplains have an educative role in the areas of beliefs, values, values, morals,
ethics and religion. School chaplain work as part of the school support team facilitate

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connection into the school network and wider community of students who are suffering from
bereavement, family breakdown or other crisis and loss situations. By organizing and being
available to go on school trips, by supporting teachers who organize extracurricular activities,
by supporting charity fundraising, by encouraging young people to get involved in
extracurricular activities.
A work of a chaplain is a sacred trust and a deeply valued position that is also unlike any
other on campus. The school chaplain may oversee all religious education on campus and may
lead or be involved with service learning and diversity programs. For schools affiliated with a
faith the chaplain may embody the very identity of the school. The chaplain likely leads spiritual
programs at school, but he or she must have a team to be successful. The services provided by
a chaplain should be appropriate to the school and student context in which he or she will
operate. Within this context, chaplains will be expected to respect the range of religious views
and affiliations, and cultural traditions in the school and the community, and be approachable
by students of all faiths. It is not the purpose of chaplaincy services to bring about or encourage
commitment to any set of beliefs. It is important to note that school chaplains cannot provide
services for which they are not qualified, for example, counselling services or psychological
assessment, or medical assessment. The key tasks of a chaplain may include facilitating access
to the helping agencies in the community, both religious-based and secular, with the approval
of the School Principal.
According to Mimms, found in a study from 2009 school chaplaincy valued a 2009
national study into the effectiveness of chaplaincy in government schools found that: “98% of
principals surveyed said that chaplaincy was making a major contribution to school morale; it

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Chaplain in a School
was proactive, unique, effective and important. 92% of principals surveyed felt it was highly
important to continue to have a chaplain serving in their schools; 73% of students surveyed felt
their chaplain was highly important in the school.” In talking about what was most important
about the chaplain, many students referred to the chaplain’s accessibility; most staff and
parents interviewed were concerned about whether there would be ongoing government
funding for chaplains. Key issues school chaplains deal with according to Culling, in the two
weeks prior to the survey, “92.5% of chaplains reported dealing with bullying and harassment;
92% of chaplains reported dealing with peer relationships and loneliness; 91% of chaplains
reported dealing with family relationships; 85% of chaplains reported dealing with students’
sense of purpose and self-esteem.”
The research found the contribution of chaplains to school welfare was unique in
several ways. They worked proactively to enhance student’s wellbeing, rather than responding
to problems that arise. Students see them as different from other school staff, partly because
they do not have a teaching or disciplinary role. Chaplains approach welfare holistically,
working with families and communities as well as individual students. When people pause to
examine what chaplains do in schools, they find a service that supports the particular needs of
the school community and enhances both school culture and the efforts of other care
professionals – at a low cost and achieving significant social outcomes.
Where does the chaplain “fit” in a school’s structure and life? This is an important
matter that needs to be answered forthrightly by each school after the candid examination of
its history and culture. It does no one any good if a school says that the chaplain plays a
significant role in the life of the school, but incumbents find themselves in reality on the

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margins of school life. Such a situation virtually guarantees rapid turnover. On the other hand, if
a school truthfully tells candidates what it has told itself, that it is seeking to increase the
significance and scope of the position, but that the process may pose challenges to established
norms and customs, there is nowhere to go but up. At times of chaplain searches, it is very
important to consider the actual relationship of the last several chaplains to the head;
administrators; students and student support services; faculty and staff; parents and
community constituencies; the diocese; and the parish, in the case of a parish day school. It is
difficult to do this during a chaplain’s term in office unless it is part of a larger strategic planning
process, in which case it can be a very productive effort; an external consultant can be helpful.
What about the issues of confidentiality with students? The actual nature of
confidentiality must be understood clearly. Confidentiality is not the keeping of secrets. It is
often understood as such, but it is most emphatically not that. Confidentiality is the protection
of sensitive information, and the release of that information at appropriate times, and through
an orderly, pre-existing process, to people whose roles require them to have that information
when they need to know it, not before. Students will sometimes assume that the invoking of
confidentiality with chaplains will protect them from the consequences of their actions, or that
confidentiality will be maintained indefinitely in regard to matters that may involve the safety
of the student or other members of the community. These are requests for secrecy and cannot
stand in a school setting. The safety of the student must be maintained always, but safety does
not mean permanent immunity from consequences.
These foundational considerations should always be worked through explicitly in
pastoral work, not to defend themselves from the complex demands of the work or to isolate

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themselves from other people, but to make clear, in a kind, consistent, and upbuilding way, the
terms under which the pastoral work can go forward. Without such definitions, pastoral work
can potentially undermine school life, and be seen as a repudiation of boundaries and the
whole systemof mutual accountability that is school life. A chaplain who is passive aggressive
about his or her “special” role and sees himself or herself as a school leader who doesn’t have
to say “no” or who sets limits less frequently than others, is a liability, not an asset in school life
and ministry, and is potentially at risk of burnout.
Chaplains must not: take advantage of their privileged position to proselytize, evangelize
or advocate for a particular religious view or belief, put themselves, or allow themselves, to be
placed in a compromising situation, recognizing that there are circumstances where
confidentiality may be sought by the student, conduct themselves in a manner which impacts
the delivery of their services, even in a private capacity, perform professional or other services
for which they are not qualified, conduct religious services or ceremonies or lead students or
staff in religious observances unless agreed to by the Principal, and deliver special religious
instruction. When it comes to being a chaplain, relating to young people in a tangible way is
key. In a time where many high school students spend as much time on their phones as they do
interacting with real people, chaplains are posed a complicated task. “I think social media is a
big challenge,” said Father Nagle (2017). “One of the things that’s hard about social media is it
can isolate you.”
A state school community can decide to introduce a chaplain to complement other
support services in the school. These services provide students, staff and parents with social,

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emotional and spiritual support by providing an additional adult role model in the school and
enhancing engagement with the broader community. Chaplains are inclusive of, and show
respect for, all religious and non-religious beliefs and other stances represented in the school
community. All activities and events provided are optional, non-discriminatory and equally
available to students of all beliefs, and are provided at the discretion of the school principal, in
consultation with the school community.
Every school is different and so there is no one single model for school chaplaincy:
chaplain themselves have diverse backgrounds, some are clergy, and some are lay people,
some teach, and others do not, some combine their chaplaincy with another role, for instance
leading a local church. When the chaplain takes time to reflect on their pastoral practice and
critically evaluate, it is asserted that the school chaplain will be far more effective.
References
Amy Kate Issaacs and Amanda Mergler (2017) Exploring the Values of Chaplains in Government
Primary Schools British Journal of Religious Education 40:2,218-231,
DOI:10.1080/01416200.2017.1324945
Parker, Mike; Gane, Barry; and parker, Carola (2015) “School Chaplaincy is Effective but Could it
Be Better?” TEACH Journal of Christian Education: Vol.9: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at
www.research.avondale.edu.au/teach/vol9/Iss1/6
(n.d.) Retrieved from www.schoolchaplaincy.org.au/About-School-Chaplaincy

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Culling Moira (2017) “High School Chaplains Connect to Students on Their own Turf.” Retrieved
from www.theleaven.org/high-school-chaplains-connect-to-student-on-their-own-turf
(n.d.) Retrieved from www.tallaghtcs.com/school-essentials/chaplaincy-service
Mimms, Christine (2017) “The Life of a School Chaplain” sais retrieved from
www.sais.org/news/327352/the-life-of-a-school-chaplain.htm
(n.d.) Retrieved from www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2014/06/24/4032164Bridger,
J.R. Reverend “The Public School Chaplain’s Job.” Retrieved from
www.churchsociety.org/docs/churchman/068/Cman_068_4_Bridger .pdf
Hegarty, Siobahn (2017) “School Chaplains Still Contentious more than a Decade after Program
Rollout.” Retrieved from www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-03/what-role-do-christian-chaplain-
play-in-our-public-schools/9108802