SEI is delighted to share the news that second year ordinand Tony Clapham (Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway) has been selected to be one of 30 candidates from across the UK who will participate in the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department Theological Students and Potential Chaplains Course 2022. This is an annual residential course offered by the RAChD to theological students and clergy in their early years of ministry to stimulate awareness of the unique opportunities and challenges of Army chaplaincy.
The first part of the event, a residential week, incorporating worship, lectures, vocational discussions and visits to Army bases, runs from 12 to 16 September, with participants staying in the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, Shrivenham, Swindon. The second part of the event, comprising a placement week with an Army chaplain, runs from 19 to 23 September.
Chaplains are professionally qualified officers who have been ordained in one of the recognised sending churches and have been selected to hold a commission in the Army. They wear the uniforms of the British Army and accompany their soldiers wherever they go, exercising leadership and management but not command; in other words, they are non-combatants and do not bear arms. They provide spiritual leadership, moral guidance and pastoral care to soldiers, officers and their families, acting as a critical friend and a prophetic voice to the Army leadership at all levels.
On hearing of his selection, Tony – shown above with his wife Marianne on the shores of Loch Ness – said, ‘I was both delighted and humbled to be chosen to have this opportunity to learn more of the work and ministry of our Armed Forces Chaplains and to have a time of placement alongside them in their ministry and service. I am excited to see how God’s Spirit will continue to lead, guide and equip me for service in the months and years ahead, and whether that may include some aspect of ministry to members of our Armed Forces and their families.’
SEI is delighted that Tony has been afforded this opportunity, knowing full well how much he will both gain and give to the experience. An account of the placement will appear on this site in the autumn.
(Photo courtesy of Tony and his wife Marianne)
