Chaplain ACPE Student

A chapel is worth a thousand words

Is the chapel a part of our ministry, when available? As a hospice chaplain, even though I visit 6 facilities for which I am the chaplain, I have no chapel. On the National Guard side, we have a chapel. Out of my four-day work week, I work out of the chapel 1 and a half days, Monday afternoon and all-day Wednesday. However, a chapel on a base has rules. With a partial chaplain corps full-time staff, the chapel is either empty or locked when someone is there. I worked out of the headquarters but decided to spend more time there. Another person, a non-chaplain member of the chaplain corps, also is there for two days of the week, but keeps the chapel door locked when there. It is not very welcoming.

In addition, as I started full-time, a new chapel-use-policy was created. It was not welcoming. Recently, I have updated the policy. For the second year in a row, we have had a Christmas event at the chapel. It is not easy, but having the lights on and the chaplain flag out on a regular basis is making the chapel more welcoming.