Hi folks, currently looking at the training plan and trying to figure out how to fill a few gaps. One such gap is Padres Hour
My squadron currently lacks a padre, following a recent retirement. I want to find a replacement, and I think we are still technically meant to find replacement padres upon vacancies.
As a non religious CFAV not too familiar with those in the dog collar, I’m not too sure how best to attempt a “recruitment drive”. I don’t want to favour one denomination or religion, so would it be best to just try and find contact details for every church/religious org in town and then send a generic email to all inviting applications?
IIRC the CivCom is meant to do this, However, I’d make the outgoing padre the first port of call. If not, speak to the Wing padre for suggestions - and maybe invite them down one night.
I’m not sure if the main padre has to be of a Christian denomination but they certainly don’t have to be Church of England, and you can have extras of other faiths.
Some local churches may have a covenant or agreement in place that they will provide a chaplain to your Sqn. My previous unit had this arrangement but some incumbent vicars didn’t appreciate it!
Not only does it not have to be Christian, it doesn’t have to be a Vicar or the like - there are lay readers etc who. An also do it. Have a read of ACP 23.
The way we recruited (I always assumed it was OC never heard of Civ Com doing it before - although they are a non-votingmember of the committee) was using our contacts we made through things like Remembrance Parade.
Invited them down for a couple of visits, and guest speaker type ones.
Invite down a series of religious leaders over a few months - let them fight it out amongst themselves who’ll be your new go-to guru for moral guidance and leadership.
In my experience either the outgoing padre speaks to their local colleagues and tries to set up a replacement, or the wing padre does that (or steps in temporarily).
would love if if that were the case. The retirement of the last Padre was some time ago, and we have a relatively hands off Wing Padre. I’ll pop off an email to see if I get a response but I’m very much under the impression that if we want a new Padre we will need to find a new Padre.
That is a shame. Is it possible you could look at local youth ministry providers if you’re thinking Christianity is the best option? I know that we have some specific young people’s trained/focused vicars around where we are. I’m sure there will be similar for other denominations too. Even just an email to the local church/other faith might start that ball rolling.
Yeah, I’m not too fussed which denomination or even religion it is - I’m not religious so I have no “bias” in that’s sense (and it wouldn’t really be my place to impose that bias anyway imo). I’m really just looking for someone to do the job of Padre - e.g. enrolment ceremonies - and to provide the reflective/pastoral nature time that I enjoyed as a cadet during my time. Even just the discussion of current affairs, ethics and citizenship is a valuable resource for young people, religious or otherwise.
I’m thinking that if I reach out to one religion though, in the interest of fairness, I should reach out to all.
As such, my current line of thinking is that I’ll send of an email to the major churches in my town (CofE, RC, Salvation Army, URC) and the local Synagogue and Mosque to gauge interest. If I get a response from multiple I’ll organise squadron tours and then figure out who we take forward through Bader Join as the final applicant.
Years ago I was about to have the local Captain from the Salvation Army. Unfortunately the whole onboarding process put him off so nothing much to add apart from that it doesn’t have to be a CoE vicar and good luck!
to be fair this seems to sort the issue out for you.
there will some who will be keen and reply and others who won’t - a little bit of work on your part to “spread the net” will capture those keen and so will want to engage with you
saves trying to flog a dead horse by just going to the “local guy”
the difficulty of course is if the 5* you contact all reply positively, but as problems go, a nice one to have - you can meet them all, and have the Cadets meet them to and work out who is the best fit for the unit
*a random number chosen and not a suggested target figure
Suspect that’ll be the hardest battle to fight. Would be easier (as long as we have DBS assuramce) to just sign them in and out as escorted/supervised visitors
Hopefully I’ll get multiple interested clergy, then at least one might make it through the appointment process undeterred.
I’d prefer to have some one who understands young adults, I don’t have a religious bone in my body and I’ve seen how yawny our cadets get at churchy things, sit down, stand and sing old songs with weirdly spelt words, rinse and repeat 6-7 times over an hour then leave church.
We’ve not had a padre for over 10yrs and coped. But maybe time for a youth worker type of position where they pop down to chat with cadets and even provide training for staff around kids with adhd/autism etc
Officially it’s yr wing chaplain’s job to find them, but they’re usually glad of help! I “stalk” candidates online to see if they’re lively and ideally have some relevant youth experience… I need to be honest with candidates about training requirements, and commitment - I’ve recently lost two in first six months, and on average I need to find a new one every other month… I get best replies when I don’t ring round Christmas, Easter or summer, and when I don’t say what it is in advance!
Youth leaders and those with credible skills like counselling etc but without all the religious baggage would be much more suitable.
Every attached padre I’ve ever had in the Army has given the stock talk about being there for everyone, but they’re not. Just look at your former DCAS or whatever he was. He was so let down by them it went in his suicide note so that we might finally learn our lesson.
They’ll always put their own beliefs and people first and they have no idea what it’s like to not believe in a god, so they’re singularly unsuited to look out for the vast majority of our service people, let alone your kids.
If kids want religious involvement, they should consider exploring their local religious scene. Kids are less religious than ever and the trend is incredibly clear. There’s room in the forces and cadet forces for everyone and religiosity is absolutely never an issue, except when those who want to define themselves by it start getting involved. In my anecdotal opinion, they are incapable of separating themselves from their religious role in the way everyone else can from their beliefs in order to put others first, and it’s only a matter of time before it causes some friction.
If you’ve gone 10 years without, I’d do yourself a favour and focus on the stuff the kids actually come for.
If you want to get a discussion going about interesting moral dilemmas, do a bit of reading on things like the trolley problem and very quickly you’ve got an evening of really insightful discussion and no need to even flirt with the idea of opposing world views.
Thats your experience which is very different to mind.
I’ve met a good number of padres and somebthe only clue they’re religious at all is the dog collar thry wear.
Like any SME Sqn CFAV…get a food one snd they’re worth they’re weight in gold
