Further Education and Higher Education

Faiths in Higher Education Chaplaincy

A major report commissioned by the Church of England and supported by many of the main faith communities in the UK, published on 15th January 2008, offers a tutorial in the valuable work of university and college chaplains up and down the country. Among a range of insights and recommendations, it calls on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the government to continue to invest in chaplaincies to help them further their significant contribution to social cohesion.

You can view the full report (160 pages) or an executive summary via the relevant links at the bottom of the grey tool bar on the left hand side of this page.

If you wish to download a copy of either document to your own computer, simply right click on the link, select 'Save Target As...' and browse to the appropriate folder in your computer where you wish the document to be saved. Click 'Save'. Following download, you will be able to open and print the document as you wish.

Copies of either document can be purchased from Church House Bookshop.

You can read the accompanying press release here.

Further Education (Learning and Skills) and the Church of England

The further education sector is growing rapidly within the UK today. There are currently 410 further education colleges in the UK and about half of these have some chaplaincy provision. FE chaplains have a key role to play in this work.

The DfES and the Learning and Skills Council are strongly supporting this work and a Handbook on FE chaplaincy is to be produced next year with joint funding. NEAFE (the National Ecumenical Agency in FE) is the organisation which has been working for 25 years in the sector, and has an excellent web site (http://www.neafe.org) which should be accessed by all who wish to know more of the churches' work in this important sector.

Chaplaincy in Further Education is a growing ministry, usually in the form of ecumenical, and increasingly, multi-faith teams. But, as this report of a questionnaire demonstrates, it is far from established as 'normal' provision, and there is much for the church to do to promote involvement in this important work, meeting the needs of young people 16-19 and many adults.

There are also opportunities for the Church to work in partnership with local FE colleges in community-based learning initiatives, due to the development of College/Faith Community Partnerships (please download - Word document) some with LSC funding.

The Church of England, ecumenically with the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Free Churches Council, also sponsor a Beacon Award to promote Sustainable Community Development. The award is for "the college which has done the most to foster a sense of self-esteem in a marginalised local group." (For more - case studies, tips on partnerships, funding, and the accreditation of community work - download  the Beacon Award booklet - PDF document)

For information on the churches' work in further education, contact the Churches' National Adviser in FE:

• Alan Murray.

Further reading

Beacon Booklet (.pdf file, 356kb)

Higher Education and the Church of England

The team aims to develop the Church's presence and witness in Higher Education by:

• monitoring developments in the Higher Education sector;
• working for the extension of Church contacts in, and impact on, the field of Higher Education:
• stimulating and developing the Church's practical concern in student and university affairs - a concern both for the life of higher education institutions, their ethical, social, spiritual and religious concerns, and for the individuals who work and study in the sector;
• liaison and partnership with national bodies engaged in Higher Education, including ecumenical partnerships;
• helping the Church both to build its ministry in Higher Education by means of advisory, liaison and representative services to chaplaincy work in HE already established, and to reflect upon that ministry.

Chaplains in Higher Education

The Church of England supports chaplains in universities and colleges of higher education across the country, including Church Colleges and Universities. The sector's ministry is overseen by the National Adviser for Higher Education/Chaplaincy at Church House, Westminster under the auspices of the Board of Education.

The National Adviser advises dioceses, universities and colleges and their chaplains; coordinates conferences, induction and some training for HE chaplains (with ecumenical cooperation, through the Churches' Higher Education Liaison Group (CHELG); acts as consultant to chaplains and ecumenical chaplaincy teams; and advises enquirers considering ministry in this sector of education. In general, organized events are open to chaplains in Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as ecumenical partners and diocesan staff. The National Adviser and the Board of Education's Higher Education Panel are available to advise the government and Church at all levels when required.

The role of the chaplain includes ministry to staff and students, and to institutions as a whole, thier leaders and structures. Chaplains are also a point of contact for people of other faiths. The university student experience has changed dramatically in recent years, and the Higher Education Act 2004 has emphasized both increased access for students from non-traditional backgrounds and also increased fees for many students, to be paid back after graduation. A key focus for chaplaincy is the promotion of a new understanding of the Church's ministry in the higher education sector. This is a challenging ministry in the context of mission, in the face of continuing change and increasing student numbers, with all the pressures on people, finance and structures that these bring. It requires wisdom and understanding and is certainly not restricted to recent curates.

In July 2007 the Board of Education published Aiming Higher: the Church of England's Higher Education Strategy (GS Misc 870, 2007).  You can access a lower resolution (768KB) copy of the strategy here and a higher resolution (2MB) copy of the strategy here. This is to be read alongside its recent report to the General Synod Aiming Higher: Higher Education and the Church's Mission (GS 1567, 2005). Both of these and the earlier report Pillars of the Church: supporting chaplaincy in further and higher education (GS Misc 667, 2002)  are available from www.chpublishing.co.uk.

Further enquiries may be made to: The National Adviser for Higher Education and Chaplaincy, Education Division, Church House, London SW1P 3NZ Tel: 020 7898 1513

• Hugh Shilson-Thomas

Downloads

Aiming Higher: The Church of England's Higher Education Strategy (GS Misc 870, 2007). For a lower resolution version of the file click here.

Aiming Higher: Higher Education and the Church's Mission (GS 1567, 2005)

Associated papers and further reading (including extracts from Pillars of the Church, 2002)

Publications

Pillars of the Church: supporting chaplaincy in further and higher education

published 3 May 2002

To order, contact :

Order securely on-line: www.chpublishing.co.uk

Using PDF files

To view or print this file you will need the latest version (v. 4.0) of Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge.  Follow this link to download Adobe Acrobat Reader or click on the image. If you have a previous version of Adobe Reader on your machine, it is advisable to uninstall it before you begin to install version 4.0.

To get the best quality when using these PDF files, save them to your hard disk. In order to save the files to your hard drive (on a PC), right-click on the download link and choose 'Save Target As' (if using Internet Explorer) or 'Save Link As' (if using Netscape).

The Lifelong Learning Partnerships PDF should take less than five minutes to download on an average 56kbps modem.

© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2001