When I think of a chaplain, I picture Father Mulcahy, SJ, from M*A*S*H. He’s a pushover whom everyone likes but few respect. He wields no authority as a religious leader. He will perform services from any religion upon request, and he celebrates mass alone on Sundays.
Father Mulcahy may represent an accurate stereotype of many real-life chaplains. In spite of this, I have a hunch that chaplaincy may become a growingly impactful medium of ministry, and I want to explore how this might be the case (or see if my hunch is wrong). I want to examine the history of the chaplaincy (which I do not know at all), learn about modern practices, and speculate on how chaplaincy may change (hopefully for the better).
Instead of writing a single mature article, I will conduct bite-sized research, sharing findings in a series of short articles along the way. I don’t know where this series will lead… it could get cut short very early or become an eye-opening adventure!
I hope to write such series on a number of other topics I am interested in. I intend to write on the arrival of a modern Dark Age. I will also look into a trend I’ve noticed: how Democrats, in their rhetoric, like to use their relative success in the realm of healthcare and public health as a bully pulpit to promote other agenda items such as gun control, “anti-racism,” and more. I have been contemplating both of these subjects years before COVID hit, so it has been interesting to observe how the past two years have played out… But one conversation at a time!
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