On Thursday 3 July more than 80 higher education chaplains from across the UK and Europe came together to celebrate the launch of a new initiative in UK Higher Education Chaplaincy: an annual conference designed to expand practitioners’ ideas of chaplaincy and what is possible within it. The Connection + Collaboration Conference, held at Kings College London, was conceived to showcase and promote diversity within the higher education chaplaincy sector, and help it grow beyond its Anglican roots. Those present enjoyed a day of collaboration and sharing kickstarted by Rabbi Alex Goldberg, Dean of the College of Chaplains and Coordinating Chaplain at the University of Surrey. Rabbi Goldberg shared his experiences as a a faith advisor to the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and his work with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights “Faith for Rights” programme. The rest of the day was filled with presentations from Jewish, Muslim, and Humanist chaplains, as well as the Faith & Belief Forum and St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace.
The initiative was the brainchild of a small group of chaplains from across the UK including James Croft, University Chaplain and Lead Faith Advisor at the University of Sussex, who was part of the planning team from the beginning. He said:
“For many years Higher Education Chaplaincy in the UK has been provided overwhelmingly by Anglicans, and has followed a model embedded in Christian assumptions. While this has served many students well, the religious demographics of the UK are rapidly shifting: more people than ever call themselves “nonreligious”, while minority religions are becoming a larger percentage of the population. It is essential that higher education chaplains rethink our work to meet this new reality – and that’s why this conference was so important. It provided an opportunity for chaplains (including many non-Christian chaplains) to connect and share best practices, while learning from colleagues how to better serve students and staff from faith and philosophical traditions not their own. It was a fantastic start – bigger than our biggest hopes – and we look forward to building on what was achieved earlier this month.”