Reading: 6-2 Part Two of "Industrial Chaplaincy"

II. WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL CHAPLAINCY

After wrestling with the questions of why our Christian Reformed Church should consider Industrial Chaplaincy as a viable ministry to our Industrial society, we should then consider what Industrial Chaplaincy is. What are its goals and purposes? How might it be defined and described?

A. Historically, the Industrial Chaplaincy movement in the United States is rising upon the decline of the Industrial Mission Movement. Parallels can be made back to the European continent in the past several decades as well. A balanced understanding of Industrial Chaplaincy must include an understanding of Industrial Mission.

Industrial Missions began in the United States in 1957 with Mr. Hugh White and the Detroit Industrial Mission. The Industrial Mission concept has developed in many other cities in North America. Its basic thrust is to unite church leaders from various denominations into a nonprofit, tax exempt "Christian" agency working for social justice in business and industry. It Is therefore not an organization of chaplains who carry on individualized chaplaincy ministries in industry, but rather, a consultant agency which attempts to be prophetic in its ministry to labor and management.

To hear the Specific goals for 1976 and the immediate years to follow of the Detroit Industrial Mission is to catch a glimpse of the Industrial Mission vision for the past 20 years. The DIM sees  its goals as:

1 ) That of a PROPHETIC VOICE seeking to raise new questions with the workingmen and women of Detroit including the many contacts it has built up over the years in industry.

2)That of a THINK TANK providing the opportunity for people to gather together and reflect on what is happening in their work lives and on the world which is affected by their work and in turn affects their work. DIM can be an occasion for theological reflection and learning rooted in the experiences of work.

 3)That of a TRAINING RESOURCE FOR THE CHURCHES where laity and clergy together can learn the skills for analysis and effective change in their work place whether the work institutions are local or reach to the ends of the earth. " (Life and Works Detroit Industrial Mission , Vol. 15, Number 1, Spring 1976)

The Industrial Mission concept included researching industry for the church to know what is happening, dialoguing with all levels of the Industrial society to develop trust and credibility, and consulting with Industry as the prophetic arm of the church in pointing out injustices in equal opportunity, affirmative action, and developing human potential. The Detroit industrial Mission is one of the few existing today which has much of a vision for what still can be done under the Industrial Mission concept of ministry. In April 1976 Industrial Missionist Scott Paradise wrote a paper Entitled "REQUIEM; A Personal Statement on the Decline and Fall of the Industrial Mission Movement in the United States." Said Paradise, "But the emergence of a new interpretation of Christianity which made sense of industrial life and the evolution of an industrially indigenous expression of the church did not take place anywhere. Looking back, it now appears that the failure of this part of the strategy meant that the industrial mission movement could not survive, for only by success here could industrial missions create their own constituency that would support them in the long run from a sense of its own self-interest."

According to Scott Paradise then, what has been missing in the Industrial Mission concept are two things. One is no "interpretation of Christianity which made sense of industrial life” and second "there is no industrially indigenous expression of the church". These observations are significant because unless an Industrial Chaplaincy program addresses these same questions, the ultimate "success" of this kind of ministry is likewise doubtful. For that matter, unless the church at large addresses the question, any significant ministry in an industrial world will face serious problems.

In my judgment, many existing chaplaincies today will some day run into problems because they are only attempting to bandage wounded people in industry without dealing with the more deep-seated questions of how our Christian faith makes sense of the industrial world and how one addresses and lives Christianly In a world of corporations and businesses. Not all Industrial Missionists have agreed with Scott Paradise that Industrial Missions have not and are not wrestling with his questions. But the fact of the matter is with few exceptions Industrial Missions are dying.

B. In an earlier report to the Chaplain's Committee I attempted to define Industrial Chaplaincy. I would like to include this definition in this report and expand upon it. For there is an element very much missing in that definition which is essential to understanding functionally and descriptively what Industrial Chaplaincy is. It is the part that I have put in italics below.

Industrial Chaplaincy, therefore, is a ministry of the Lord, FROM THE CHURCH AND TO THE CHURCH, in the person of the Chaplain as he addresses the needs of the whole person, as he addresses his relationships to others, and as he addresses the work environment of an industrial setting. By separating this definition into its various descriptive phrases, we can better describe Industrial Chaplaincy and the Chaplain who is called to this responsibility.

INDUSTRIAL CHAPLAINCY IS A MINISTRY OF THE LORD. It is not simply a humanistic patchwork repair of broken and fragmented people. It is rather a ministry of the redemptive, healing, comforting, just, and righteous love of God to people who are hurting in their hurting circumstances. The Chaplain performing this ministry is more than a psychologist, sociologist, or ethicist responding to human need with this kind of ministry, but he is a "Man of God" with sensitivities to psychology, sociology, morality, and ethics as he then speaks and demonstrates the Will of the Lord in today's world. The identity of the chaplain as one called, equipped, and commissioned by the Lord is essential, I am convinced, to both the person engaged in the work and to those with whom he works (even though I fully recognize that makes the prophetic identity a source of ridicule). Industrial Chaplaincy is a ministry of proclaiming redeeming love in a non-sermonlc way; it is a ministry of demonstrating the care and concern of the Lord to people in life's marketplaces; it is a ministry of enabling Gods people to live out of the redemptive wholeness of life in Jesus Christ; and it is a ministry of challenging injustice, sin, and apathy as the Lord's spokesman. Later in this report I will define more carefully the prophetic, priestly, and kingly character of the Industrial Chaplain as a "Man of God".

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INDUSTRIAL CHAPLAINCY IS A MINISTRY FROM THE CHURCH AND TO THE CHURCH.

One of the crucial questions we must ask about the Industrial Chaplaincy program is its relationship to the body of Christ-- both locally and universally. Earlier in this paper I raised questions concerning the nature of "church" and "ordination". I am convinced that Industrial Chaplaincy must be part of an ebb and flow relationship Gods people have in this world if it truly is a ministry of the "church" and if we take "ordination" seriously. By this I mean that the church exists in this world to be expended on the world as ambassadors of Jesus Christ. In this way, Industrial Chaplaincy is an extension of the ministry of the church to our world. If this is the "flow" character of the church, the "ebb" character would have us learn something from the world THROUGH THE EYE GLASSES OF FAITH AND FAITHFUL MEN OF GOD as the church. Our industrial world needs understanding, interpretation, and evaluation by people, ordained and non-ordained to discover "the glory of God in His Universe" and to "discern the spirits to see if they are of God". The Industrial Chaplain becomes one of the facilitators of Gods people, the church, in understanding, interpreting, and evaluating our society.  

As a ministry from and to the church, Industrial Chaplaincy is inter-denominational rather than non-denominational or mono-denominational. To those in industry the Industrial Chaplain's ministry is not an extension of a particular congregation or denomination, but as Chaplain, he represents the whole church of Jesus Christ. Even his ministry back to the church can not ONLY be to one congregation or denomination (even though he has a priority ministry to those who call, support, and endorse him). Having said this, it must be also said with clarity, the Industrial Chaplain must have his own identity together doctrinally, denominationally, and within a local congregation if he is going to weather the challenging ministry he has to industry.

INDUSTRIAL CHAPLAINCY IS A MINISTRY THAT TAKES SERIOUSLY THE PERSON OF THE CHAPLAIN. Industrial Chaplaincy programs have generally been male oriented, but it is being more and more recognized that women chaplains are as needed as men chaplains. Our denomination will have to come to a different conclusion regarding women in office before we can consider "Ordained" women chaplains, but I am convinced that part of our consideration of Industrial Chaplaincy take seriously the place of women-- "ordained" or "non-ordained" in these positions of ministry.

Who the chaplain is, how he (the generic pronoun) perceives himself, and how he puts together a ministry that is congruous with his personality, his talents, the work situation, the needs of those to whom he ministers, and the church he serves is what will make his particular industrial chaplaincy work. The Chaplain must know himself what his strengths and weaknesses are, what he can do and what he cannot do. Although he has a support group both within the Industrial setting and within the church and denomination he serves, his ministry is quite uniquely his own. He cannot hold his piety or doctrinal beliefs up as evidence of his commitment, but the genuineness and realness of his commitment must demonstrate his authority as a "Man of God". The chaplain must be adept in many of the basic skills of pastoral ministry. Counselling using listening, evaluating, analyzing, clarifying, communicating skills, teaching using leadership, motivation, organization, planning, creative dreaming, and implementation skills, challenging and proclaiming using Biblical interpretation skills, ethical sensitivities, and moral awareness are some of the words to describe the various kinds of expertise that an Industrial Chaplain must have developed within himself. He must understand the dynamics of personality, of social relationships, of groups, of formal and informal structures and of formal and informal lines of communication. He must be informed about styles of leadership, and management, organizational principles, and institutional bureaucracy. He must be open for learning new experiences and new things about himself. He must be able to translate the Gospel to the street language of the people he serves and be true to himself. He must be able to conceptualize what his ministry might be, translate the concept into program and finally evaluate its success or failure. The key to Industrial Chaplain is very much on the person himself who is the chaplain.

INDUSTRIAL CHAPLAINCY IS A MINISTRY TO THE WHOLE PERSON.

The mental, social, physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of a human being interplay and interdepend on each other in life. Rev Jack Clack in describing his ministry to the people in feed mills and chicken farms of Russelville, Arkansas points out how the spiritual ministry of an industrial chaplain is essential to much of the counseling in the related areas of people problems. The National Association of Mental Health cites mental and emotional disorders as being the cause of eighty to ninety percent of all industrial accidents. So that most major problems faced in industry are people problems, not technical problems, and these problems frequently are spiritual and ethical in nature. The Industrial Chaplain is called upon to give assistance in the wholeness of their life.

INDUSTRIAL CHAPLAINCY THEREFORE IS A MINISTRY TO THE WHOLE PERSON IN HIS RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHERS.

The family, other workers, employers and employees, friends, and enemies all interplay upon a person's life. The Industrial Chaplain, by virtue of being in the environment where the person spends much of his time under stress, has a ministry to people in their interrelationships. The faith, hope, and love message

of the Gospel addresses people most directly in the restoration of relationships. Chaplain Clinton Grenz, the initiator of the United States Army's pilot Industrial Chaplaincy program, emphasizes the ministry of the Industrial Chaplain is a "ministry of reconciliation". "The chaplain of an industrial chaplaincy program must carry his Christian ministry deep into the problem solving of employees' problems. An industrial chaplain must wear many different hats to become many different things to many different people. He must seek to reconcile management and labor; he must communicate to workers with problems in a Christian way. If a chaplaincy program is given open leeway to operate and is available to all types of employees and management, it will show that industry is ready and willing to help toward the welfare of their most important product -- employees." (Master of Divinity Paper, Chaplain Clinton Grenz, p. 21,22) Even though the chaplain is neither pro labor nor pro management but rather pro-people, he has the responsibility to counsel, enable, clarify issues that separate people.

AND FINALLY INDUSTRIAL CHAPLAINCY IS A MINISTRY THAT ADDRESSES THE INDUSTRIAL SETTLING OF THE PEOPLE TO WHOM HE SHARES HIS MINISTRY.

The Prophetic character of the Industrial Chaplain must be clear as he ministers in the industrial world, for so many  "people problems" arise out of the injustice, dehumanization, and inequities of the industrial processes. The Chaplain must know the forces at work in labor unions, corporation bureaucracy, management, etc. so that he may not only be used for healing in people's lives but also be used prophetically to challenge causes for sin and sinful expressions. An article' from NIM BRIEFS (December 1970) entitled "One More Time Now: Do we need Industrial Chaplaincies?" the emerging Industrial Chaplaincy program of the Southern Baptist Church was challenged to consider more seriously this prophetic emphasis. Seven years ago these words were written and need still to be heard today as well.

It would appear from a reading of the literature and from conversations with industrial chaplaincy people, that the movement, if it can be described as such, remains focused on the personal and one to one in its conception of its role. That is to say, the industrial chaplain does not see himself as a critic or a prophet but rather as one who deals with the personal problems of individuals, usually lower level employees, whose personal hang-ups are become so serious that they are unable to function effectively in the industrial setting.

The Church must continue to have a concern for souls; that is a deep compassion for and desire to serve those who are hurt, broken or wounded by their experiences in this life. At the same time, the gospel imperative seems to call for scrutiny of the processes and structures of society by which men and women and children are broken. This aspect of ministry is strikingly lacking in the industrial chaplain movement.

This is still true today in 1977 even though many Industrial Chaplains are awakening to this need and are addressing it.  

A faithful Church will seek ways to combine its traditional concern for individuals and structures in all the sectors of modern life. This must be a particular priority in the economic sector. The danger is that we will fall into mindless social activism or a narrow-visioned "care of souls". In either instance people and the society go further down the drain. The need is for a fully rounded ministry to all aspects of human need. We are terribly short of models of this kind of action.      

If the Church is to minister in the area of industrial production and economic decision-making it will need to create agents and structures which can be instruments of change at the most basic level. It should be obvious to any ethically sensitive observer that our system of production and distribution is faulted at its core. That is, it is unable to arrest the process whereby the rich become richer and the poor continue in their misery. A cursory scanning of the current data indicates the continuing presence among us of malnutrition, of unemployment and under-employment (i.e., grossly inadequate incomes on the part of many who are fully employed), of the unavailability of medical care and legal advice for significant segments of the population not to mention the entrenched racism in the structures of society.

The author of this article is unknown to me but he puts his finger on a significant part of the ministry which Industrial Chaplains by in large today do not address. Yet, it is part of the definition of Industrial Chaplaincy we within our Reformed faith must consider.