Chaplaincy and other ministries 2005

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Men Women

Total

Royal Navy chaplains 38       0       38      
Army chaplains 84       1       85      
Royal Air Force chaplains 45       2       47      
Prison chaplains* 91       37       128      
Hospital/healthcare chaplains 202       117       319      
School chaplains (note 3) 138       15       153      
Higher and Further Education chaplains (note 3) 88       15       103      
Other chaplains (note 4) 226       37       263      
Other non-stipendiary clergy (note 5) 233       68       301      
Ordained staff of theological and bible colleges and other Christian centres for education and research 75       26       101      
Ordained members of religious communities (note 6) 63       27       90      
Total (notes 6&7) 1,283       345       1,628      

* Figures for prisons are for May 2006

The figures for chaplains and other ministers working outside the parish framework are based on statistics derived from the database used to compile Crockford’s Clerical Directory (with the exception of religious communities where data is collected from source). Where possible, they have been cross-referenced with material produced by organizing bodies (Ministry of Defence for the forces chaplains; Home Office for prison chaplains; Hospital Chaplaincies Council for hospital chaplains).

Notes:

  1. The table does not include chaplains and other clergy counted elsewhere in the statistics; for example chaplains who have a diocesan appointment and are on the Church Commissioners’ payroll.
  2. Where an individual holds more than one appointment it has been a subjective decision as to where to place an individual. This means that there is inevitably some disparity between the above figures and those for previous years.
  3. Apart from chaplains, ordained members of the teaching staffs of schools and colleges are not counted here, but are included within the non-stipendiary figures.
  4. ‘Other chaplains’ includes full and part-time ordained staff of retreat houses, conference and healing centres, shrines, almshouses, missionary societies and communities.
  5. ‘Other non-stipendiary clergy’ includes: full and part-time ordained staff with either diocesan or non-diocesan appointments; some cathedral clergy; certain chaplains; and those who are not parish deployable but with licence to officiate or permission to officiate.
  6. There are an additional 490 lay members of religious communities who are professed in vows (54 men and 436 women).
  7. In addition there are 111 accredited lay workers on the Church Commissioners’ payroll, 17 deaconesses, and 13 full-time clergy on the staff of Church House and Lambeth Palace.