Humanist Chaplains Entering Traditionally Faith-Based NHS Chaplaincy Teams

Healthcare chaplaincy in the National Health Service (NHS) has rapidly changed in the last few years. Research shows a decline of people belonging to traditional faith frameworks, and the non-religious patient demographic in the NHS has increased swiftly. This requires a different approach to healthcare chaplaincy. Where chaplaincy has originally been a Christian profession, this has expanded to a multi-faith context. Over the last five years, humanists with non-religious beliefs have entered the profession for the first time, creating multi-faith and belief teams. As this is a very new development, this article will focus on literature about humanists entering traditionally faith-based NHS chaplaincy teams within the last five years in England. This article addresses the question “what are the developments resulting from the inclusion of humanist chaplains in healthcare chaplaincy?” Topics arising from the literature are an acknowledgement of a changing healthcare chaplaincy field, worries about changing current practices and chaplaincy funding, the use of (Christian) language excluding non-religious people and challenging assumptions about those who identify as non-religious.

The COVID-19 Context Calls for a Broader Range of Healthcare Chaplaincy Models: An Exploratory Translational Study Utilizing Evolutionary Psychology and Social Neuroscience Loneliness Research

Shifts in chaplain requests from patients and families and lack of engagement by staff in now traditional support forms in the COVID-19 context suggest that new insights and resourcing are needed. This exploratory translational study suggests that the evolutionary psychology of R. I. M. Dunbar and the social neuroscience of J. T. Cacioppo, his collaborators, and successors and their concerns for human loneliness have potential for use in development of effective healthcare chaplaincy practice in the COVID-19 context.

Missions and Ministries

Chapter 3 discusses the history and scope of Christian (and other) missions that provide medical, surgical, nursing, and dental care and environmental health development through extensive programs of global outreach on six continents. These include partnerships with nongovernmental organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, and secular foundations and philanthropies. The chapter also lays out a historical timeline for the emergence of the pastoral care field, with an emphasis on healthcare chaplaincy. From pioneers such as Richard Cabot and Anton Boisen, in the 1920s and 1930s, through establishment of key organizations and institutions like the Association of Professional Chaplains, the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, and the HealthCare Chaplaincy Network, this history is traced with an emphasis on clinical, educational, and scholarly developments that have shaped the profession to the present day. Newer professional innovations such as faith-based psychotherapy are also discussed.