An Introduction to Chaplaincy & Sector Ministries

In every aspect of chaplaincy ministry and mission, chaplains are there with the (estimated) 95% who do not have regular (monthly) contact with a local church. Chaplains are there in workspaces and places of learning and healing, they are there immersed within cultural networks and dispersed throughout marginalized communities.

Chaplains are not waiting for people to come to them, they are there alongside, there with an offer rather than an expectation, there to listen, care, pray and bless, to be vehicles of God’s love and hope.

There is a long history of chaplaincy, sometimes also referred to as sector ministry, in HM Forces and HM Prisons, in hospitals and in schools and universities.  There has been an evolving development  of industrial and workplace chaplaincy. Increasingly opportunities for chaplaincy are arising in many different areas of national life , such as the world of sport and emergency services,  and community or parish based chaplaincies in care homes, and GP surgeries for example.

A chaplain can be lay or ordained, fulltime or part time, paid or volunteer.  In this diocese we already have approximately 70 chaplains ministering in wide ranging contexts.

We are developing a suite of resources to encourage and support current chaplains, and also for others to explore and discern if God is calling them to this ministry.