Training Chaplains
By definition, a chaplain is someone who meets a community where they are. Chaplains are not permitted to impose their beliefs onto others - but rather to evoke the agency and dignity of all they work with.
In The United Covenant Union, a chaplain is a trained religious professional trained in the areas of base community planting, peer group development, and congregation-based community organizing.
Below are the three main areas of training that a UCU chaplain will receive:
Base Community Planting
All UCU chaplain organizers are trained in how to build a prayer group, which we call a chapel, from scratch. They are trained in the history and approaches of of early Methodism, Latin American base communities, and the Havurah movement.
Peer Group Development
All UCU chapels function as a peer support group, as well as a faith community and cooperative. Accordingly, chaplain organizers are taught how to use trauma-informed techniques to catalyze civic development - not delay it.
Community Organizing
Chaplain Organizers are trained in the disciplines of community organizing, so that they can embed them into the practices of prayer meetings, labor mediation contract negotiation, and community bargaining.
Building a Relational Architecture
The United Covenant Union trains clergy and chaplains to be chaplain organizers, who practice the craft of base community organizing, which itself is a blend of the practices of base-building, congregation-based community organizing, congregational planting, and peer group development.
Chaplain Organizers are taught in the techniques of relational meetings, agitiation, power analysis, meeting turn-out, canvassing, and fundraising, so that they can teach their chapel members how to use their power (ability to act).
Chaplain Organizer Elijah McGuire-Berk leading a training for Holy Pickers Chapel at Shiloh UMC.