First humanist head of a UK University’s chaplaincy, pastoral, and spiritual care team

Feb 20, 2023 by Jill

from Humanists UK:

James Croft has become the first humanist to be appointed to lead a chaplaincy, pastoral, and spiritual care team at a UK university. He has been appointed to the role of ‘University Chaplain and Lead Faith Advisor’ at the University of Sussex. Humanists UK has hailed his appointment as a landmark moment, and hopes that it will encourage other universities and institutions to embrace a more inclusive approach when it comes to providing person-centred care for students. James officially started his new role on 6 February.

Non-religious pastoral care is like-minded support that encompasses the emotional, moral, ethical, and existential aspects of life. It is grounded in a pragmatic, non-religious outlook and non-religious pastoral carers provide support to people in hospitals, hospices, prisons, universities, and hopefully soon the armed forces. As part of its support of the expanding Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network, Humanists UK works to increase provision across all sectors, and in every part of the UK. It doesn’t use the word ‘chaplain’ to describe such practitioners, because many understand this to be a Christian-only term, instead preferring ‘non-religious pastoral carer’, but some humanists do have ‘chaplain’ in their job titles, reflecting the practice of their employers.

Though his title includes the words ‘Lead Faith Advisor’, James Croft is a humanist who has held many roles in the ethical societies movement in the United States. He was previously the Senior Leader at the Ethical Society of St Louis, one of the world’s largest humanist communities, and has a wealth of experience building communities that embrace people of all religions or beliefs. James also was an interdisciplinary researcher with a focus on the philosophy of Human Development and the role of the arts in learning, and completed his Master’s and Doctoral degrees at Harvard University, where he was also a Teaching Fellow.

Read here