Ewan Kelly is the former Programme Director for Healthcare Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in NHS Education for Scotland and founding research co-ordinator of the European Research Institute for Chaplains in Healthcare, based in KU Leuven, Belgium. He currently works freelance as an educator and writer. John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at the University of Aberdeen. He has a background in nursing and healthcare chaplaincy and has researched and published extensively in practical theology, mental health, spirituality and human wellbeing.
Kelly and Swinton have together produced a milestone publication in Healthcare Chaplaincy. 28 experienced authors, both co-creating and conflicting, address key issues facing Chaplaincy today as healthcare and social paradigms rapidly shift. Many offer important standalone contributions, but together they weave a landscape from which the future shape of our Profession may well emerge. -- Dr. Simon Harrison, President, College of Health Care Chaplains Chaplains and health care leaders from across the globe passionately convey diverse perspectives and bold invitations that are thought provoking and deserving of critical consideration. A must read for front line chaplains and health care leaders confronting chaplaincy care challenges and opportunities in the 21st century. -- Stephen D. King, Manager: Spiritual Health, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and Chair, Joint Research Council Swinton and Kelly have drawn together important voices in spiritual care to produce this timely, stimulating and necessary collection. Here is a 'must read' for anyone involved in Health and Social Care Chaplaincy, helpfully alerting the reader to contemporary questions in a way that will stimulate further thought and debate. -- Rev Canon Dr Iain Macritchie, Programme Director for Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy, NHS Education for Scotland The voices and needs of patients - the most important focus of chaplaincy in healthcare - are connected with the challenges for the profession of a chaplain. The experiences of patients, chaplaincy practice, outcome-oriented research by chaplains and a theoretical underpinning of the profession are all presented in a unique, patient-centered way, for a broad public. -- Simon Evers, coordinator of the European Network of Healthcare Chaplaincy There is by now absolutely no doubt that the profession of chaplaincy (in an increasingly complex and secular world) is facing a watershed - with an ocean of creativity, relevance and sustainability on one side and a rapidly-drying riverbed of outdated approaches on the other. This new volume is a wide-ranging and well-informed look at the most relevant challenges, as well as possibilities, for influencing which way things will ultimately flow. If you are in the professional chaplaincy field and care even one drop about our future, read this collection. -- Rev. Dr. Amy Greene, Director, Center for Spiritual Care, Cleveland Clinic Health System, and Board Chair, 2018-2019, ACPE: The Standard for Spiritual Care and Education