Corporate Chaplaincy and the American Workplace

Abstract

Corporate chaplains are religious ministers trained in pastoral care, most often clinical pastoral education, paid by a company or staffing agency to serve the emotional and spiritual needs of workers at their jobsite. In the early 21st century, the secular vocation of corporate chaplaincy is a growing business and a booming enterprise. This essay traces the historical development of corporate chaplaincy from its earlier industrial forms and argues that corporate chaplains have influenced the development of the American workplace through their organizational mediation of spiritual meaning and economic productivity.Pastoral care in all its forms is the priests' real instrument of power, particularly over the workaday world. (Weber 1993, p. 75)

A new framework for analyzing organizational workplace religion and spirituality

“…Ashforth and Vaidyanath (2002) affirm the reality of secularization within the modern organization, but propose a weaker form, suggesting "the scope of religious authority has declined (or is declining) because of modernization" (p. 362). While secularization theory's existence in the modern organization has been challenged, it continues to find affirmation as a significant phenomenon in the twenty-first century (Goldblast 2000, Seales 2012). The impact of this theory on organizational philosophy has been to create a form of dualism for employees, who still have religious world views and spiritual orientations, thus compelling many to compartmentalize their life when at work, leaving a portion of themselves behind.…”

God on the Fly? The Professional Mandates of Airport Chaplains

“…Most chaplains also seem to align themselves with airlines as employers by giving staff a place to vent but not advocating for broader structural changes. To the extent that these findings are replicated in additional studies they suggest that chaplains are likely to identify with the institutions within which they workrather than the people they serve-in ways that shape their roles (Seales 2012).…”

Humanizing Agents of Modern Capitalism? The Daily Work of Port Chaplains

“…Corporate chaplains are those in for-profit settings that likely received the most attention in recent years (Lambert 2009;Oppenheimer 2012;Seales 2012). Rooted in Christian evangelical history, corporate chaplains today remain primarily Christian and aim to mediate spiritual meaning and economic productivity in the settings where they work (Miller 2007;Seales 2012).…”

“…Corporate chaplains are those in for-profit settings that likely received the most attention in recent years (Lambert 2009;Oppenheimer 2012;Seales 2012). Rooted in Christian evangelical history, corporate chaplains today remain primarily Christian and aim to mediate spiritual meaning and economic productivity in the settings where they work (Miller 2007;Seales 2012). In his work on corporate chaplains, David Miller describes them as, "'walking the floor' and being a listening ear and comforting voice for employees, many of whom have spiritual needs but are not members of a particular congregation and do not know where to turn in times of personal or professional crisis" (Miller 2007: 114).…”