OVER four days, the General Synod completed the full legislative process for a Measure and amending canon to address a legal anomaly in the licensing of military chaplains.
On the Saturday afternoon, the Archdeacon of Oxford, the Ven. Jonathan Chaffey (Oxford), introduced the draft Measure draft Armed Forces Chaplains (Licensing Measure and Amending Canon No. 44 (Ministers’ Exercise of Ministry) for first consideration. He characterised the business as “tidying up a small area of ecclesiastical law”, but said that it also presented an opportunity to express support for the “essential work” being done by military chaplains.
For more than 100 years, military chaplains had operated around the country with a licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury, but it had emerged that parliamentary legislation had not been properly implemented in 1868. As a result, chaplains currently had to apply for permission to officiate (PTO) in every diocese in which they ministered.
Archdeacon Chaffey, a former Chaplain-in-Chief of the RAF, said that this “creates problems”, as chaplains needed to be mobile and able to serve wherever they were posted. The Measure would put the previous practice “on a secure legal footing”, he said, with a licence from the Archbishop. The licence would apply only to the exercise of chaplaincy duties; other work, such as regular parish ministry, would require an application for PTO.
The Revd James Menzies (Salisbury), an army chaplain, wondered whether there was any reason to oppose the Measure: “Perhaps, if you thought the Church of England wasn’t bureaucratic enough,” he suggested. The proposals would make a “great difference” to him and his colleagues, he said. He hoped that members would not dismiss this as a niche issue. “This is an extension of your mission, of our mission.”
The Bishop to the Armed Forces, the Bishop of St Germans, the Rt Revd Hugh Nelson, said that the proposals would help to fulfil the Church of England’s ambition to be “simpler” in its systems. He also encouraged churches to engage with military chaplains in their area, and commended forthcoming resources which would explore what it meant to be a Church in a time of conflict.
The Archdeacon of London, the Ven. Luke Miller (London), spoke of his experience as a sea-cadet chaplain, and of his son, who is on active duty in the Navy. Forces chaplains needed to be able to go immediately to where they were needed, he said, and, although it was right for them to have “proper check and accreditation, they don’t need unnecessary bureaucracy”.
Michaela Suckling (Sheffield) said that, as the daughter of a soldier, she would vote for the motion, so that chaplains could fully prepare the armed forces to go into battle, strengthened by the Holy Spirit, to face what was ahead. She also urged churches close to military bases to consider how they could support forces families — not just the troops, but the spouses and children left behind.
Canon Andrew Dotchin (St Edmundsbury & Ipswich), the son of a naval officer, said that military chaplaincy had always been intensely pastoral. “This Measure will help us help them help others,” he said.
Sam Atkins/Church TimesThe Bishop to the Forces, the Rt Revd Hugh Nelson
Karen Czapiewski (Gloucester) asked why the Measure was restricted to clergy and did not include lay people licensed by a bishop.
The Revd Martin Davy (Oxford) welcomed the Measure as recognising “something deep” about the nature of Christian ministry: that the Church’s mission was not defined by diocesan lines. Chaplains went wherever their people went, whether on bases, submarines, or battlefields. “This is very good governance, but also very good theology as well,” he said.
The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher, said that forces chaplains worked almost exclusively with young adults — a key target for evangelism. He also encouraged chaplains, even with the new licensing arrangements, to be in touch with their local bishop to receive support and prayer.
The Revd Jo Winn-Smith (Guildford), as a bishop’s chaplain, had first-hand experience of the impracticalities of chaplains’ having to apply for PTO. But chaplains deployed for a long period might still want PTO so that they could minister in a parish, she suggested. She echoed Bishop Usher’s call for chaplains to continue making contact with the diocese, even if they no longer needed a licence.
Canon Paul Cartwright (Leeds) praised the spiritual care offered by military chaplains in “unique and challenging contexts” and welcomed the reforms. “This is not about bypassing episcopal oversight, but enabling ministry in extraordinary settings.” He suggested that there might be a similar need for police and fire chaplains to be able to accompany those whom they served when deployed outside their usual areas in times of public unrest or national crisis.
Lt Gen. Robin Brims (Newcastle), who had spent 39 years in the army, said that he had benefited hugely from padres, who worked well ecumenically, too.
John Wilson (Lichfield), another military veteran, said that the army of today was smaller and more mobile, ready to respond at very short notice for much shorter deployments. Chaplains had an important part to play in supporting soldiers and families in the face of rapid moves from place to place, he said; so this change was vital to giving them the flexibility required.
The business returned to the Synod on the Sunday afternoon for the revision stage. A member of the steering committee, Canon Alice Kemp (Bristol), moved the separate parts of the Measure. Peter Bruinvels (Guildford) was pleased that forces chaplains could be “untapped” as a gift to the whole Church. He asked whether there could be a revised policy for parish priests to enter military bases to support the families left behind when padres were deployed overseas.
Canon Kemp said that this was not a matter for the steering committee, and suggested that Mr Bruinvels take this up with Bishop Nelson.
On the Tuesday morning, introducing the final-approval debate, Archdeacon Chaffey told the Synod that its wholehearted endorsement of the forces chaplains’ ministry had been heartening.
The Archbishop of York spoke of one of his predecessors’ chaplains, who left Bishopthorpe to serve as a First World War army chaplain, and who was killed in action in France. He was remembered every Remembrance Day, but these issues were not just in the past, he warned. Britain’s military was still needed, and, therefore, chaplains still mattered. “We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the chaplains of His Majesty’s armed forces,” he said. They were pastors and evangelists in ethically complex contexts. The Archbishop thanked the Synod for its quick work.
The Chaplain of the Fleet and Archdeacon for the Royal Navy, the Ven. Andrew Hillier (Armed Forces), thanked members for their support in making chaplains’ work “immeasurably easier”. The hardest part of his job was sending his chaplains into harm’s way — which, he said, was a regular occurrence now as Royal Navy vessels came under fire in the Red Sea. “Please keep in mind all who serve in the armed forces in your prayers,” he asked the Synod.
Mr Bruinvels thanked members for their support of the forces, saying that many dioceses had also signed the armed-forces covenant. He told stories of how military chaplains could also serve the wider Church “outside the wire” of their bases.
The final approval votes were: for Measure, Bishops 21, Clergy 151, Laity 142 nem. con.; and for the Amending Canon, Bishops 23, Clergy 154, Laity 152 nem. con.
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