Chaplaincy and other ministries 2006

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Men Women

Total

Royal Navy chaplains 36       0       36      
Army chaplains 88       1       89      
Royal Air Force chaplains 42       2       44      
Prison chaplains 78       38       116      
Hospital/healthcare chaplains 194       111       305      
School chaplains (note 3) 140       16       156      
Higher and Further Education chaplains (note 3) 86       23       109      
Other chaplains (note 4) 231       45       276      
Other non-stipendiary clergy (note 5) 206       66       272      
Ordained staff of theological and bible colleges and other Christian centres for education and research 77       23       100      
Ordained members of religious communities (note 6) 70       28       98      
Total (notes 6&7) 1,248       353       1,601      

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 436 lay members of religious communities who are professed in vows (37 men and 399 women).
  7. In addition there are 112 accredited lay workers on the Church Commissioners’ payroll (including some church army evangelists), 14 deaconesses, and 13 full-time clergy on the staff of Church House and Lambeth Palace.