Abstract
The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab focuses on contemporary chaplains – increasingly called spiritual care providers, or what religious studies scholar Winnifred Sullivan describes as “secular priests” or “ministers without portfolios.” The Lab brings American leaders in theological education, social science, religious history, clinical education, and professional chaplaincy into conversation for the first time. We ask who chaplains are, what they do, what effects their work has on those they serve, and how to think about them as a professional group in light of broader changes in religious demographics. We ask how chaplains are trained, what the demand is for their work, how that demand has changed with growing religious diversity, and what business models enable chaplains to provide the best services to diverse groups.