Doing socio-political work in chaplaincy

Throughout this volume, spiritual care is conceptualized in terms of caring for processes of orientation in life. These processes are entangled in socio-cultural contexts as systems, structures, and developments at the macrolevel have an impact on the capacity of individuals and groups to imagine, strive for, and live a good life. In this view, chaplains, as the professionals who care for people’s attempts to orient in life, have the task of publicly exposing and questioning the dehumanizing effects of macrosystems and –structures on these attempts. In this chapter, the socio-political dimension of chaplaincy, in which chaplains speak and act in the public domain, is explored. In particular, a chaplaincy method for providing spiritual care to communities which are affected by challenging events or circumstances is described, consisting of four elements: presence, sharing community narratives, forging structural partnerships, and spiritual counseling.