Canadian Forces' chaplains are able to negotiate the disparities between institutional goals and the human needs of military personnel through their ‘ministry of presence’, capacity to operate outside the chain of command, and symbolically ‘neutral’ rank, to provide meaningful support and pastoral care. This article uses sociological and phenomenological perspectives based on interviews with Christian military chaplains in the Canadian Forces as well as other studies on religion in Canada and religion in late modernity to examine the changing face of religion in Canada, provide an overview of the development of the Canadian Forces' Chaplain Branch, discuss new forms of religious diversity, and finally, examine how Canadian military chaplains today continue to contribute meaningfully to military operations in their ongoing support of human needs. This analysis offers insights into the alienation that can come from working in a modern bureaucratic institution, the challenges of adapting to a religiously diverse environment, and the difficulty of bridging the gap between these two spheres in order to sustain operational effectiveness.
U02/2016