ABSTRACT
Chaplaincy is an institutional norm in most universities in the United Kingdom (UK). Individual chaplains can usually recount stories to illustrate their role positively, churches keep providing funding, and the institutions do not seem to mind their presence. But behind this benign status quo the role and function of chaplains faces a challenge: development and availability of professional counselling services, pressures on church budgets, and changing cultural and political agendas. This paper explores how university chaplaincy has become ubiquitous without an articulated theological underpinning, and why developing robust theology is crucial for future stability and development from the perspectives of chaplains who practise, churches who provide funding, and the secular institutions who host them. It is argued that a key element of any such theology must include confident distinctiveness of faith and engagement with the academic nature of the context.
