7 Develop, coordinate, and facilitate public/semi-public liturgy appropriate to a range of settings and needs.
PPS 7 is about the chaplain and liturgy. A range of settings is helpful but the competency is asking for two examples when you lead a ceremony/service to an audience bigger than one family. How you design, organize, and officiate the ceremony are all parts of the essay.
Ash Wednesday rolls around every year. In my context the practices have been facilitated in the hospital by the spiritual care department. The ashes and oil are ordered way in advance. Flyers are printed and distributed to units for the times when the chaplain is present at the chapel to confer the ashes. There are early morning, mid-day, and night opportunities to reflect on when different shifts are needed. There is no official statement used when placing the ashes but I tend to say “Remember you are dust and to dust you will return.” Often as people are receiving ashes some will stay in the chapel after their ashes for a time of contemplation and prayer. The goal is to make the service available to those who may not be able to make it to their home congregation. Not every person can come to the chapel. To adapt this service, we have made ashes available throughout the day and at the request of units. I use special containers and Q-tips to keep the ashes contained and accessible from my pocket.
An interesting dynamic to this is that I never grew up in a denomination that used ashes. When thinking about performing services you may find yourself adjacent or farther away from the faith tradition that endorses you and performing a practice that you may not be used to. (Be aware not to misrepresent your ability to do a service like a wedding officiant or practices reserved for specific clergy). It may help to be generally aware of two strategies: code-switching and neutralization.
Code-switching refers to the chaplain’s practice of moving between various traditions and symbols.[1] This might feel odd for the chaplain who was trained in seminary to be consistent in their language and hold concerns about losing their identity. It might even feel like you’re hiding that identity under falsehood. The Apostle Paul had no issues with code-switching and used it frequently. In Acts 22 he defends himself with his Jewish identity, and then to the Roman tribune, he defends himself with his Roman identity. To the synagogue in Antioch, he reads the history of their prophets. To the Greeks in Athens, he quotes from their poets. He summarizes this approach in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23.
Speaking of the Apostles, when the Greek believers were wondering how much of the Jewish law they needed to observe, the Apostles got together and neutralized the question in Acts 15. Chaplains neutralize when overcoming religious differences to focus on what is in common.[2] These two skills are essential when you begin to address this competency and find yourself performing liturgy in your setting.
[1] Wendy Cadge and Emily Sigalow, “Negotiating Religious Differences: The Strategies of Interfaith Chaplains in Healthcare,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 52, no. 1 (2013): 153.
[2] Ibid., 151.
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