Guest commentary by John Welch
Lauren Silverman, a reporter for NPR, released a story titled “Problems with your boss? Try a chat with the office chaplain.” In this story, Lauren featured a pastor of a nondenominational church who also serves as a chaplain for Marketplace Ministries Inc., a 30-year nonprofit that provides chaplaincy services to 155,000 employees in workplaces in the United States and around the world. This may seem like an odd venture, but for this ministry to have sustained for 30 years with such a wide reach speaks to the fact that it meets an existing need. Faith in the workplace is not a new phenomenon, but this is not that. However, I do believe there is a connection.
The issue of faith in the workplace has been discussed in business schools over the years. The Wall Street Journal published a story about how Catholic University was starting a business school with the belief that there is a demand for more virtue-based approaches to conducting business. With the reporting of past and current events of corporate fraud (e.g., Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and others), what constitutes success and how you get there is the subject of many business ethics courses. Early in 2014, The Economist published an article that talked about the pressure on companies to respect the religious diversity of its employees in ways that are non-discriminatory. The story notes that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has noticed an increase in religious discrimination cases. With several lawsuits that have led to settlements over companies not allowing religious headdress or hairstyles and even in one case where a British Airways employee was prohibited from wearing a cross around her neck with her uniform, companies are trying to balance freedom and respect.
In this religiously sensitive economy the question becomes: When do personal values become corporate values and when do these corporate values discriminate against the values of the individual employees?
However, the NPR story had nothing to do with the ability of employees to express religious values. In fact, the NPR story mentioned that the chaplain’s mission is not to proselytize or force people to “have a relationship with God” but to listen. But aren’t social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists trained to do this as well? Why not hire a resident therapist to give employees an outlet to talk about their frustrations and concerns? Economically, the price of a chaplain is probably cheaper. This question is not to advocate against the use of chaplains in the workplace, but to suggest that the use of chaplains in corporate settings has more to do with the religious pluralism that exists and the right of workers to represent their faith traditions without feeling intimidated by their superiors or co-workers especially in multinational corporations and with more immigrant workers being hired with H-1 or O-1 visas. Chaplains in the workplace can be a mitigating solution on the part of companies to at least give the appearance of religious sensitivity, tolerance and acceptance.
But the increasing use of chaplains in corporate settings does speak to other opportunities. One area where chaplains already exist, yet are underutilized, is in hospital settings. Since the 1980s, there has been research conducted and articles published on the occurrence of moral distress in the clinical setting, primarily among nurses but now spreading to other disciplines. In 1984, Andrew Jameton defined moral distress as the state a person finds himself or herself in as a result of knowing the right thing to do but unable to do it because of institutional constraints. This is triggered by a moral dilemma due to a conflict in values. Many health care workers face this and can find support in their hospital chaplain. The chaplain is not only there for patients but should also be there for the staff. Hospital chaplains are uniquely trained to provide the necessary spiritual interventions in traumatic situations while respecting the faith tradition, or lack thereof, of the trauma victim and their family. They are trained through several hours of clinical pastoral education (CPE) to listen and guide without overtly converting the person they are assisting. As a chaplain for the local police department, I understand the fine line between being a chaplain to first responders and hospital personnel versus being a parish minister. As a bioethicist, I understand the value associated with values conflicts in the clinical setting. Without the proper training clergy can do more harm than good if the situation is not managed properly.
If the chaplains in the workplace are only there to provide pep talks and offer words of encouragement, as the NPR story hinted, your friendly neighborhood minister can do that. But if you’re going to be considered a workplace chaplain, then in order to maintain the integrity of the title I would suggest proper training so that when the words of encouragement are ineffective, the pep talk is not applicable and the employee is about to have a meltdown, a sufficient intervention can take place – because at that point, a theological degree alone won’t suffice.
Some seminaries and a number of denominations are requiring seminary students have CPE credits before being considered for ordination. In my position as vice president for student services at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, I am most attentive to placement opportunities for seminary graduates. With the opportunities for parish ministry contracting due to the decline in mainline denominations, perhaps in addition to church planting, corporate chaplaincy can help provide ministry opportunities for well-trained seminary graduates.
John C. Welch is vice president for student services and dean of students at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
