Military Chaplaincy in Contention

Chaplaincy highlights the need for faith and society to re-engage with vital moral questions. Military chaplains continue to operate within the dynamic tension between faith communities, the armed services and society, offering a distinct moral presence and contribution. Drawing the reader into the world of the military chaplain, this book explores insights into the complex moral issues that arise in combat (especially in Afghanistan), and in everyday military life, These include the the increasing significance of the Law of Armed Conflict and the moral significance of drones. Through the unique chaplain's eye view of the significance of their experience for understanding the ethics of war, this book offers clearer understanding of chaplaincy in the context of the changing nature of international conflict (shaped around insurgency and non-state forces) and explores the response of faith communities to the role of the armed services. It makes the case for relocating understandings of just war within a theological framework and for a clear understanding of the relationship between the mission of chaplaincy and that of the military.

Revd Canon Dr Andrew Todd is the Director of the Cardiff Centre for Chaplaincy Studies, employed jointly by St. Michael's College and Cardiff University. He leads research into public sector chaplaincy (including in the armed services). He directs the MTh in Chaplaincy Studies, delivered to Army Chaplains under contract to the MoD, which Cardiff has just won for the third time. He is also involved in lecturing on ethics to all British Army Chaplains. He has wide experience of theological education and is a past President of the Cambridge Theological Federation. He has published a number of articles on military chaplaincy and a number of articles and book chapters on other areas of practical theology. He wrote, with Michael West and Graham Noble, Living Theology (DLT, 1999), for which he did much of the editing.

Part I Chaplaincy in Contention; Chapter 1 Chaplaincy in Contention, AndrewTodd; Chapter 2 Moral Soldiering and Soldiers' Morale, AndrewTotten; Chapter 3 'You've Been Silent, Padre', PhilipMcCormack; Part II The Wider Context of Chaplaincy in Contention; Chapter 4 Terrorism and Interrogation, as an Issue for Chaplains on Operations, PeterSedgwick; Chapter 5 The Robotisation of War, DavidFisher; Part III Chaplains and their Churches; Chapter 6 The British Churches and their Chaplains, PeterHowson; Chapter 7 'O Hear Us When We Cry to Thee', JonathanBall; Chapter 8 Just War, JamesColeman; Chapter 9 Moral Engagements, AndrewTodd, ColinButler;