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The chaplain general is a senior chaplain in non-church organisations, such as the British and Canadian armies, and is responsible for the supervision of chaplains conducting religious services and ceremonies, representing the Christian faith in that organisation, and providing pastoral care and support within the organisation.
The post of Chaplain-General in the British Army dates from 1796, when the Army Chaplains' Department was formed. [1]
During the First World War, the chaplain-general John Taylor Smith was equivalent to a major general and under the control of the Permanent Under-Secretary of State. Llewellyn Henry Gwynne was from July 1915 deputy chaplain-general of the army in France, with the relative rank of major-general. Both had been colonial bishops prior to appointment.
In the Second World War, the head of chaplaincy in the British Army was an (Anglican) chaplain-general, who was formally under the control of the Permanent Under-Secretary of State. [2] An Assistant Chaplain-General was a Chaplain 1st class (full Colonel) and a senior Chaplain was a Chaplain 2nd class (Lieutenant Colonel). [3]
In 1948 the first Bishop to the Forces was appointed; the Bishop is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the full title of the Bishop to the Forces is "The Archbishop of Canterbury's Episcopal Representative to the Armed Forces". The Bishop to the Forces is not a military chaplain. [4] The current holder of the office is Tim Thornton, Bishop at Lambeth. There is sometimes confusion between the (Anglican) "Bishop to the Forces" and the (Roman Catholic) "Bishop of the Forces": for this reason the latter is normally given his title in full, i.e. "The Roman Catholic Bishop of the Forces". [5]
Each of the three armed services has a chief chaplain (ranking as an archdeacon), for the navy the Chaplain of the Fleet, for the army the Chaplain-General, and for the Royal Air Force the Chaplain-in-Chief. [6]
The Museum of Army Chaplaincy holds archive material and information relating to the history of the Chaplains General to the British Army both past and present.
Chaplain General is also used as a term outside the Anglican Church, referring to the senior chaplain in a nation's military (sometimes called the Chief of Chaplains, as in the United States military). Some nations, like South Africa, Israel, and Canada, have one Chaplain General or Chief of Chaplains for the military as a whole; others, like the United States, have one for each branch of the armed forces; while others have one for each major religion or faith group represented among its military personnel.
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justin Welby, who was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013. Welby is the 105th person to hold the position, as part of a line of succession going back to the "Apostle to the English" Augustine of Canterbury, who was sent to the island by the church in Rome in 597. Welby succeeded Rowan Williams.
The Church of England traces its history back to 597. That year, a group of missionaries sent by the pope and led by Augustine of Canterbury began the Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury. Throughout the Middle Ages, the English Church was a part of the Catholic Church led by the pope in Rome. Over the years, the church won many legal privileges and amassed vast wealth and property. This was often a point of contention between Kings of England and the church.
David John Conner, is a British Anglican bishop. He served as Dean of Windsor from 1998 to 2023, and was additionally the Bishop to the Forces between 2001 and 2009. He previously served as Bishop of Lynn, a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Norwich, from 1994 to 1998, and in school chaplaincy. Conner retired effective 31 July 2023.
The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army.
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
The Anglican church in the British Armed Forces falls under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury; however, for all practical purposes the function is performed by the Bishop to the Forces. His full title is "The Archbishop of Canterbury's Episcopal Representative to the Armed Forces". The Bishop to the Forces is not a military chaplain. The Bishop always sits in the Church's House of Bishops and (therefore) General Synod; from 2014 to 2021, this fact was utilised to give the Bishop at Lambeth a seat on both.
The Bishopric of the Forces is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church which provides chaplains to the British Armed Forces based in the United Kingdom and their overseas postings.
The Bishop of the Falkland Islands was historically a bishopric in the Church of England; as the ordinary of the Diocese of the Falkland Islands, the bishop had responsibility for chaplaincies across South America, before national metropolitical provinces were formed.
The Royal Australian Army Chaplains' Department (RAAChD) is an all-officer corps of the Australian Army that provides ordained clergy to minister to the personnel of the Australian Army. RAAChD chaplains belong to either one of several Christian churches, or to the Jewish faith. As of 2012, there are 67 serving regular chaplains (commonly known as 'padres') in the Australian Army. There are also 83 chaplains in the Australian Army Reserve.
Leonard James Ashton, was an English Anglican bishop and military chaplain. He was the inaugural Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf, serving from 1976 to 1983. He had previously spent most of his ordained ministry serving in the Chaplains Branch of the Royal Air Force, and rose to become its Chaplain-in-Chief.
Philip Charles Thurlow Crick (1882-1937) was the Anglican Bishop of Rockhampton in Australia from 1921 until 1927 and the Bishop of Ballarat until 1935.
The Catholic Diocese of the Australian Military Services, is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church immediately subject to the Holy See. It was established in 1969 and maintains its Chancery office in Canberra. It is a Diocese in its own right and not governed under any Diocese or Archdiocese.
The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch provides military chaplains for the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom.
Martin George Poll, is a British Church of England priest and former Royal Navy chaplain. Since 2012, he has been the Canon Chaplain of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and Domestic Chaplain to the Queen. From 2010 to 2012, he was Archdeacon for the Royal Navy and Principal Anglican Chaplain of the Royal Navy Chaplaincy Services.
Joanne Caladine Bailey Wells is a British Anglican bishop, theologian, and academic. Since January 2023, she has served at the Anglican Communion Office in London as "Bishop for Episcopal Ministry". Previously, she was a lecturer in the Old Testament and biblical theology at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, and then associate professor of Bible and Ministry at Duke Divinity School, Duke University, North Carolina; From 2013 until 2016, she had served as Chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury; she was then Bishop of Dorking, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Guildford, 2016–2023.
Peter Andrew Eagles, is a British Anglican bishop. Since 2017, he has been the Bishop of Sodor and Man; he was consecrated a bishop in the Church of England in June 2017, and he was installed in September 2017. He is a former chaplain of the British Army, serving as Archdeacon for the Army (2011–2017) and the Deputy Chaplain-General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department (2014–2017).
The most senior Anglican chaplain in each branch of the British Armed Forces is made an archdeacon in the Church of England. Respectively they are titled the Archdeacon for the Royal Navy, the Archdeacon for the Army, and the Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force. As an archdeacon, they are styled The Venerable.
Clinton Matthew Langston, is a British Anglican priest and military chaplain. He served as Chaplain General of the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army between 2018 and 2022, and as Archdeacon for the Army in the Church of England between 2017 and 2022. He was previously Deputy Chaplain General from 2017 to 2018.
Martyn John Gough was a British Anglican priest, who served as a military chaplain and was Chaplain of the Fleet and Archdeacon for the Royal Navy from 2018 until his retirement in 2021. At the time of his death he held the voluntary position of National Chaplain to the Royal British Legion.
Jonathan Robin Blanning Gough is a British Anglican priest and former military chaplain. Since March 2019, he has served as the Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven in the Diocese of Leeds. He had previously served in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department of the British Army.