Hospitals Are The New Church

In 2019, the Reverend Doctor Eileen Scully, director of Faith, Worship, and Ministry for the Anglican Church of Canada, realized a dream of a gathering of Anglican Health Care Chaplains. Through funding from the Anglican Church of Canada, about 35 chaplains from across Canada met in Toronto. It was a time of networking, education, and retreat. Everyone was excited to meet up again the following year in the hopes that this would be an annual event.

            And then the pandemic hit. Although plans were in place for the second annual gathering in 2020, everything was postponed when the world shut down. In fact, it was postponed four times.

            For two years, the planning committee tried to get another gathering off the ground. During the years of COVID, online “retreats” were held in order to try and maintain the network that had been created in 2019.

            After a long wait, the second annual gathering of Anglican Heath Care Chaplains finally occurred from October 11-14, 2022. However, attendance was very much reduced.

            The most significant challenge for prospective attendees was that their employers could not spare them for a week. Chaplaincy across the country is significantly understaffed which is causing chaplains to become overworked and to experience burnout.

            The other main reason people were unable to attend was due to a high number of people having contracted COVID. Although they continue to take full care while on duty, it is harder to do so in a world that assumes the pandemic has passed and where governments are removing all protection mandates.

            For those in attendance at this year’s conference, the weight on their shoulders is extremely apparent. The heaviness in the voices is obvious as everyone shares the context in which they serve as chaplains.

            Our chaplains are in dire need of help and support from the church. Part of the origins of this gathering was to bring to the attention of the bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada the presence and the needs of their Anglican chaplains, and their desire for support from the dioceses.

            Currently, most chaplains fall under the provincial health care organizations. Hiring, salary, and all other employment functions are determined by a secular organization that has no understanding of the importance of the chaplaincy. It also means they are vulnerable to the same health care cuts as nurses, aides, and other health care employees.

Why is this not overseen by the church, instead?

Chaplaincy is often not considered to be a “real” church ministry. But in reality, chaplains are the front-line works of the church. The call of a Christian is to care for the sick and vulnerable. That task is the key components of chaplaincy.

Instead of being part of regional health authorities, our Anglican chaplains should be part of the Anglican Church of Canada, a posting to ministry like any other priest or deacon would be to a parish church. The diocese should be the employer of chaplains, be responsible for their salaries, benefits, and anything else employment related. If chaplains are doing the work of deacons, why aren’t they employed by the church Why are they not receiving support from their diocese?

Our chaplains need to be cared for; they need support, and they need to know their church, their diocese will provide this support. People are burning out and the local health organizations aren’t considering chaplaincy to be a priority.

The church needs to step up and take care of their front-line disciples. Chaplaincy is an important ministry of the church. It is time for those who are in charge to see this truth and take action. As congregants move from the pew to the hospital bed, hospitals and long-term care homes are becoming the new church. While parish priests ponder what to do with decreasing numbers, the number of people being cared for by a chaplain are skyrocketing.

And yet the chaplaincy is essentially ignored by the national church and the local diocese. This is a generalized statement, as there are bishops who take great pride in and care of their local chaplains. But ultimately, it is time to change the conversation from worrying about how to increase attendance at church to developing the relationship with those caring for people who have left the church for hospitals and care homes.

Chaplains are begging for support from their church. Tio often they feel treated as “less-thans” compared to other church ministries.

Hospitals are the new church. It is beyond time for the Anglican Church of Canada to accept this fact and do something to care for its front-line disciples.