One of the clearest manifestations of the continuance and development of ‘civic religion’ in the United Kingdom is the presence of chaplains in the armed services, hospitals, prisons and academic institutions, as well as in police stations, airports, sports clubs, shopping centres and business districts. Of these, military, medical, prison and further education chaplaincies are most directly linked to the state through specific legislation and, in some cases, through public funding.
Chaplains to the armed services are designated as commissioned officers under Queen’s Regulations. Of around 300 chaplains currently working full-time in this capacity, some 54% are supplied by the Church of England; 16% are Roman Catholic; 12% Church of Scotland, 8% Methodist and 6% others. In each case, the relevant denomination grants approval for the appointment, and some costs, but salaries and other expenses are paid by the Ministry of Defence, amounting to an annual outlay on this sector of approximately £18 million.
The Prisons Act (1952) stipulates that every one of the 129 prisons in England and Wales must have an Anglican chaplain. However, while the Chaplain General must also be a Church of England cleric, members of other Christian denominations, and of other faiths, also serve as prison chaplains, most in a part-time capacity. Of the 184 full-time prison chaplaincies in England and Wales, 147 are Anglican. Annual public expenditure on prison chaplaincies amounts to about £11 million.
Hospital chaplains are authorised under the National Health Service Acts. Some occupy ‘generic’ posts, approved by their respective denominations but paid for by the NHS, while others are effectively funded by the denomination concerned. England alone has 422 full-time hospital chaplains, of whom 350 are Church of England clergy, and some 3,000 more who operate on a part-time and/or voluntary basis. As with military and prison chaplaincies, the increasingly multicultural profile of modern Britain means that more chaplains from non-Christian faith groups are being appointed in this sector.
Church denominations and other faith groups fund chaplaincies in most centres of higher education in the UK. In 2004, there were 174 Church of England Chaplains in Universities, and 35 in Colleges of Further Education. Here, too, chaplaincy teams are increasingly ecumenical and multi-faith.
