Chaplains as public theologians: reading and interpreting public spaces.

What is it about?

The article explores a range of models used in thinking about chaplaincy before developing the flâneur as a model that captures the potential of chaplains to contribute to public theology. Chaplains are immersed in a range of significant public spaces concerned with, for example, education, health, and the justice system. Understanding what goes on in institutions like hospitals, prisons and universities is important for developing public theological responses to key contemporary issues. In the way they stroll these institutions (the flâneur is a 'stroller'), reading and interpreting them theologically, chaplains generate unique insights that are an underused resource for public theology. The flâneur, particularly associated with Walter Benjamin's Arcades Project, offers a way of thinking about this distinctive feature of chaplaincy.

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Why is it important?

Chaplaincy is flourishing and the field of chaplaincy studies is growing apace. This is a very significant point of intersection between theology and the public sphere. Chaplaincy, therefore, offers an exciting opportunity for the field of public theology. Chaplains, though, tend to be focused on understanding their role theologically or developing their professional practice, and public theologians haven't generally made use of this valuable resource. The potential of this interconnection, therefore, remains largely unfulfilled.

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