Chappy Week is coming up –a great opportunity to promote the Chaplaincy Service and to generate support.
There are a number of good reasons why a Chaplaincy Service should be promoted in the local community and most of these are about fostering support for the great work being done in schools by the chaplain. Individuals, churches, community organisations, businesses and government departments need to know about what the needs in schools are, how the Chaplaincy Service addresses those needs and what they can do to help.
Individuals may have skills or resources to contribute to the work; churches may like to donate money or mobilise their people to pray; community organisations may have services they could provide or have projects they would like to collaborate on; businesses may want to provide financial support or incorporate the service into local activities; and government departments may want to provide funds or integrate services more efficiently. There are many benefits for the chaplaincy service to making itself known.
And what should the chaplain’s role be in this? While LCCs support their chaplain by promoting the Chaplaincy Service, there is obviously an important and unique contribution that the chaplain can make. The chaplain is often the one at ‘the coal face’; the one who knows the people and has the stories to tell. They are often the one that people want to hear from. But, of course, there is a balance to strike here – between making the most of their unique contribution and not overburdening the chaplain with too much promotional work. The last thing anyone wants is to be keeping a chaplain away unnecessarily from the work they have been called to do with students, staff and families in schools.
So what can LCCs do about this?
- An LCC can be proactive about the promotion of the Chaplaincy Service.
They can make promotion strategies a regular agenda item for meetings, create a diary of activities and events and selectively assign tasks and roles to the chaplain.
- LCCs can actively recruit LCC members who have passion and gifting in the area of promotion.
When LCC committee members have clear promotional responsibilities, the pressure on the chaplain is lessened in this area.
- LCCs can be clear on the promotional expectations of their chaplain and clearly articulate them to the chaplain.
This might be expressed in terms of percentages of time, the completion of scheduled tasks or number of activities or events.
- The LCC can maximise their chaplain’s gifts and abilities in the area of promotion.
Some chaplains are great up-front, others are better at organising events and others still are better in one-on-one or small group meetings.
Ideally an LCC would perform the logistical side and the chaplain will tell their story and support students.
- LCCs can monitor how their promotional efforts are going, with a particular focus on how the chaplain’s time, energy and gifts are being utilised.