Evensong with a celebration of chaplaincy, Ely Cathedral, 6 July 2024
Old Testament and New Testament Readings: Jeremiah 29: 1-7 and Matthew 5: 13-16
Preacher: Revd Canon Dr Gale Richards
Title of sermon:
Chaplaincy as seeking the welfare of the city by being salt and light
In our Old Testament reading, we might sense a challenge from God our creator through a letter from the prophet Jeremiah, to seek the wellbeing of the communities/societies we find ourselves living within, even if the views and ways of that community/society seem at odds with how we might want them to be. For in doing so that is where we too will find our welfare.
As we come together to celebrate chaplaincy, I want to say that chaplaincy is one of the leading models of how to seek the wellbeing or welfare of the communities/societies we find ourselves in.
Chaplains are people of particular faith and belief backgrounds who are asked because of their faith and belief background to serve in settings where people go not necessarily or primarily to practice a faith. Thus, chaplains can be found in all sorts of settings from institutions such as prisons, hospitals, hospices, care homes, and universities, to retail and other commercial or community contexts. Chaplains are even stationed midweek in cathedrals like this one to serve people such as tourists taking in the sites. Perhaps particularly relevant to us in the United Kingdom now, given we have just had a general election, we note that chaplains can also be found in Parliament looking after the wellbeing of Members of Parliament.
Chaplains in all of these settings are there to work for the wellbeing of the people that are there. To use the words of our New Testament reading, we could say chaplains take up a call to be salt and light themselves, and help others to be that for the benefit of others too in the communities they find themselves in. It is in these settings that chaplains often encounter people searching for direction, meaning, answers, and at times are desperate for some kind of light to help show them the way forward. Chaplains thus have to become experts in shining a light on the different pathways open to people as they search for meaning, but leaving it open to people to decide for themselves which pathway they want to take and when and how.
Chaplains (and I say this as someone who has at times served as a chaplain in a university) testify as to how God works in and through them to make a difference in the lives of individuals, communities, and institutions, as they help make faith more visible in these places. This can take the form of chaplains resourcing prayer spaces or facilitating acts of worship. Additionally, it might entail chaplains offering care and support to individuals of all backgrounds as they navigate life’s challenges through simply seeking to be a non-anxious presence, or responding to people’s questions about things like the meaning of life and suffering, or help people to challenge and transform unjust organisational policies or practices.
Chaplains offer this care and support to individuals in their contexts with a particular flavour – that is by being available, approachable, offering love, and compassion to everyone regardless of their beliefs or faith or social backgrounds. This particular flavour chaplains help to bring into play using the words from our New Testament reading might be described as ‘salt’. This is because it can help to stop the rot of decaying relationships between different people groups and model how much common ground can be found between people from hugely different backgrounds.
As I say all of this, please comprehend the work chaplains do of caring for others is often personally costly to them. Thus, there are challenges for them in balancing the important work they do of caring for others with caring for themselves emotionally, mentally, and sometimes even financially, as many sacrificially volunteer their time.
Consequently, we must give thanks for organisations like Cambridgeshire Workplace Chaplaincy that help to bring chaplains from all contexts across the county of Cambridgeshire, and Peterborough, together, and help ensure chaplains are supported and resourced.
May we pray for a growing understanding in our faith communities and wider local communities as to the potential for resourcing, supporting, and learning from the different models of chaplaincy work. May we see the place of chaplaincy in seeking to live out God’s challenge to all of us of seeking the welfare of the communities/societies that we find ourselves studying, working and living in. May more people also come to see how chaplaincy might help us respond to Christ’s call to all of us, to seek to be the much needed ‘salt and light’ in our day-to-day lives wherever we find ourselves.
Amen
Preacher: Revd Canon Dr Gale Richards
Serving in the following roles:
- St Etheldreda (Ecumenical) Canon, Ely Cathedral
- Chair, Churches Together in Cambridgeshire
- Associate Chaplain, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge Campus
- Regional Minister, Eastern Baptist Association