What in the world is a chaplain
doing on a university campus?
doing on a university campus?
When I first started loitering about on campus, I found that no one knew what a chaplain was, nor cared much. The academics walked around as if on the verge of discovering the next use for a robotic something-or-another and the students were just trying to find their tutorials.
"Who decided about the signage around here?"
"People who already knew where they were going."
So how was a chaplain to find relevance, or even usefulness, on a secular university campus? Well it sure wasn't by introducing myself, "Hi, I'm the chaplain!"
The look on faces said it all, "What the ... is a chaplain?"
Just so you know, a chaplain is usually a representative of a faith or belief, serving a group of people who are not organized as a religious community.
Chaplains can often be found in hospitals, amongst the military, within the police or fire services or in prisons. In other words, chaplains come in handy where conditions often have people asking really hard ontological questions with little or no support for exploring the answers to those questions.
So how did I get the nickname The Chocolate Chaplain? As I wandered aimlessly in the early days on campus, I was keen to engage people in conversation, on just about any level. I started taking chocolate fish around with me, and found chocolate to be common ground for a lot of people. When staff are stressed and having a particularly no good, rotten really bad day, chocolate can be a little relief in the midst of it all. As students go in to exams or oral presentations, chocolate can give them the lift that raises their game a bit.
Instead of hiding from "that religious person", people started perking up when they saw me coming. A form of bribery? Maybe. Common ground? Definitely. Most people hesitate to acknowledge that they'd appreciate prayer, though around exam time many students "get religion". Most people don't mind if I pray as I walk away, leaving them with a melting mouthful of Cadbury.Chocolate isn't the whole picture though. I respond to requests from students when they want to connect with God, or figure out why God seems to be mad at them. Sometimes there is guilt from a drunken spree that leaves them questioning their perceived identity and previously held values. Making sense of the chaos helps.
Sometimes students are victims of violence and are questioning all the social norms they once took for granted. Others are homesick, and these can be from Hamilton as easily as from Hanoi. I even get people seeking me out to talk about their faith, wanting to pray or wanting to discuss or compare various religions.
Some students are frustrated, studying subjects that do not interest them, but which are deemed most beneficial by their parents. Negotiating the path to independence is a difficult one, especially when the financial strings are held by the olds, and the student is not yet uncomfortable enough to make a change.
Tragedies within the university community also fall within the chaplains' scope of influence. Whether it is an accident, violence, death or illness, when people come face-to-face with their own mortality and vulnerability, they often want company.
Maybe that's what chaplains should be called; company, companions through the difficult bits of life.
While chaplain may seem an archaic word, it is the one we are saddled with. My associates and students have had to define it for themselves. Sometimes I think the definition looks something like me. I hope it often looks something like Jesus.
~ Jill Shaw is a Jesus follower, traveller, and writer who hangs out with refugees & uni students. Geocaching, art, friends and snorkeling feature in her days off. Get Jill via nzchaplain@gmail.com or albchaplains@massey.ac.nz or on Twitter @Jill_Shaw
This article was first published in SP Magzine Nov 2010
