On Monday last week I drove across a causeway, heading from Portsmouth to HMS Excellent on Whale Island, and found myself face-to-face with a sentry dressed in camouflage uniform holding what looked like a machine gun. He wasn’t pointing it at me, but it was clear that he could.
This was not a normal start to the week for a priest, and it was not going to be a normal week, but it turned out to be an adventure that was fascinating and highly rewarding.
But let’s step back a bit in time. Shortly after it was announced that I was to be the new rector of Rye, but long before we moved here, I had a message out of the blue from ‘Fr Jim’ asking if I would like to become a chaplain to Rye Sea Cadets. As it happened, I had a little previous experience of sea cadets and so jumped at the invitation.
For those that don’t know the sea cadets here are based at Training Ship (TS) Rye in Rock Channel. They have both sea cadets and Royal Marine cadets, and they are all about giving the youngsters experiences and opportunities that are rarely available in their usual lives. If you have children that need to get away from their mobile devices for one or two nights a week then do look them up: https://www.sea-cadets.org/rye
A chaplain?
You may wonder why sea cadets need a chaplain, and what does a chaplain do? Both good questions! The Sea Cadet Corps follows the lead of the Royal Navy (RN) and the RN has a long tradition of having chaplains on board their ships. The chaplains lead prayers and other services but, just as importantly, they are there to be a friend and advisor to all – a listening ear and someone who may have a little more experience of life than the sailors and able to share words of wisdom in times of stress. The chaplains to the Sea Cadet Corps (of which there are 160 nationally) are there to do the same – to be part of the pastoral care for both the cadets and the volunteer staff.
So, I joined this band of ordained men and women who take our ministerial training into the Sea Cadet Corps.
Although chaplains are already trained and ordained by their sending churches we also need to be trained into the life and ways of the Sea Cadet Corps and the Royal Navy. These days, as you can imagine, a lot of training happens online, but some things need to be done in real life, with real people. It was for that reason that last week around 30 chaplains gathered at HMS Excellent for four days of training.
Training for chaplains
Having been initially taken aback by coming face-to-face with a man with a uniform and a machine gun it was interesting that after only a few hours onboard HMS Excellent that one becomes completely used to it. Not that everyone is wandering around with machine guns, but almost everyone is in uniform, and you quickly become adept at knowing who is who. And, yes, the chaplains were wearing uniform too and part of our training was about what to wear and how to wear it.
For those who know about such things we spend most of our time wearing ‘number threes’ with an officer’s cap but the gold leaves on the cap badge are left black, to indicate that we are not executive officers. I got pulled up once for having my rank slides on the wrong shoulders (it is all about which way the rope goes around the anchor) and once for having my windproof jacket undone whilst walking. Although it didn’t happen to me at least one chaplain got shouted at for having their hands in their pockets!
Although Chaplains wear an officer’s uniform we are deemed to be the same rank as whoever we are with. This means that the chaplain can speak to anyone from the youngest cadet to the admiral of the fleet without being conscious of rank.
In the navy
As well as learning how to wear our uniform, and the etiquette that carries, we also spent some time on a cold parade ground learning how to salute (palms facing inward for the Navy), how to dress off and generally how not to embarrass ourselves too much in that situation. Although chaplains don’t do a lot of drill we do need to look smart when on the maindeck of the unit, and to set a good example to the cadets.
In addition to learning about the military side of life we also spent a day reflecting on the spiritual aspects of this ministry – in what ways it may be similar to our parish ministry but also the ways in which it is different. Importantly, chaplains are never the leaders of their units – that falls to the commanding officer (the wonderful PO Phil Whiteman in Rye) but we are there to join in and be available to those in need.
Table manners
On our last evening we also got a wonderful taste of naval life with a dinner in the wardroom, and were inducted into the many traditions that accompany such meals. Not only passing the port to the left, but only being allowed to put your elbows on the table if you have sailed around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, not leaving the table until dismissed otherwise your chair will be hidden on your return, not touching the cutlery until the mess president has started and many others. Breach of any of these carried the risk of being fined a bottle of port! We were all well trained and no one was fined.
We departed from HMS Excellent on the Thursday as slightly different people from those who arrived. More confident surrounded by military types, more confident to wear the King’s uniform but, most important of all, more confident that the role and ministry we have to offer to the youngsters and volunteers of the Sea Cadet Corps is hugely worthwhile, and I feel honoured to be part of that.
Ready, aye, ready!
Image Credits: Paul White .