THE ESSENCE OF PRACTICE IN CHAPLAINCY PROFESSION

THE ESSENCE OF PRACTICE IN CHAPLAINCY PROFESSION

To assume that all my readers have in one way or the other had a good deal of what chaplaincy is all about  may be  a gainsaying  hence,  I will like to in a jiffy begin to address the motif of this write-up by defining what chaplaincy is all about.

Chaplaincy according to the erudite Chaplain Professor bishop Mike-Jacobs, is a humanitarian profession where every human being is guaranteed   equitable justice, equal opportunity, equal care and treatment irrespective of his or her political affiliation, social status, economic status, gender or tribe, nationality, race religion and color.” It is a profession that identifies problems with the view of proffering solutions to them. Chaplaincy is a care giving service to the hurting among all humanity.

So a practicing professional known and called chaplain has the mandate of ensuring an equal and unbiased treatment and care of all people called the general public in assisting them overcome their situations and circumstances.

The essence of practice in Chaplaincy profession cannot be divulged from practice in other professions (e.g. Medicine, Law, Engineering, Accountancy etc.) universally.

The relevance of practice in Chaplaincy can be likened to the word of Jesus that “blessed are those who hear and do” that indicates that the blessing (benefits) of every profession in life lies in practice. Invariably, no practice, no benefit. It is not enough to hear or acquire knowledge in a particular field without discharging same through practice. To that extent the following factors though not exhaustive in itself may suffice for the essence and need for professional chaplains to practice their career:

Practicing chaplain will help to deliver the desired benefits to the public. For instance, one of the veritable tools in Chaplaincy practice is counseling.  Through counseling the hurting of all sorts could be guided out of problems. Many people have committed suicide in the past because they thought nobody cared for them. But with the instrument of counseling a professional chaplain can recreate hope in the hopeless.

A counselor acknowledges the deplorable state of his/her client and so works assiduously together with him to move him out of depression.

Another valid point is that practicing Chaplaincy will help to consolidate the profession and make it relevant to the public. Without practice, Chaplaincy profession will die a natural death.

Therefore this is a passionate call to all professional chaplains particularly in Nigeria where the awareness is still very slow to mount the stage and identify with the already depressed society occasioned by economic hardship and other societal vices to aid them out of their hurts. This will definitely endear the profession to the hearts of the society and consolidate it.

When Chaplaincy is practiced, the government of the day will definitely take note and acknowledge the contributions of the profession and possibly be motivated to enact necessary legislations that will enhance the profession where none is in existence as in the case of Nigeria.

Furthermore, the other impact practicing will have on the practitioner is that over time he/she will acquire and develop necessary experiences and skills to aid his proficiency in the career because they say “practice makes perfect”.

If professional chaplaincy is not practiced the right way, the stage will be left to quacks and paras to mount and dismantle the remaining hope in the hurting through unprofessional administration and approaches. Quacks are people who lack the necessary training and skill in a particular profession. So they create problems for the hurting than good. This situation can be likened to the story told by somebody of Adamu.

Adamu wanted to be a pilot without adequate training, so he picked the manual of a plane and the first chapter told him the button to press to start the plane, he did and the engine started. In the second chapter it shows how the plane can start flying, he pressed the key and the plane took off to the air, but while in the air, he wanted to land, unfortunately, the manual failed to state what button to touch for the plane to land. You can judge for yourself what would have become of Adamu and the people on board with him. Such is the danger inherent in engaging the services of inexperienced people in any profession.

It is the utmost desire of this brief discourse to stir up the courage and passion in all professional chaplains in Nigeria to henceforth expedite action in practicing the career that is structured to give so much to the various shades and divergent hurting of the society.

Chaplaincy holds to a greater extent the hope and key to both the spiritual, economic, political challenges of this nation and the world at large. There is nowhere in life where Chaplaincy is not needed. Let all concerned parties eschew all forms of discrepancies and embrace the advocacy for professionalism in Chaplaincy practice in Nigeria for the betterment of all.

CHAPLAIN NDUBUISI CHIKEZIE U.