From “Civilian Clergy to Officer”: Hiring and Training Chaplains for Federal Government Positions

Abstract

This article asks how people hired into federal chaplaincy positions are trained on the job. We find that unlike those hired into positions based on education, knowledge, and skills to date, chaplains are hired—by design—without some of the skills required for the job. Employers do not expect hired chaplains to understand organizational norms and practices, and so we identify strategies like inculcation and embodiment that employers use to help chaplains integrate their religious identity with their new professional identity. Drawing on interviews and archival data, we examine the process of hiring and training for federal chaplains as a case study of religious professionals in secular and pluralistic organizational contexts. This article contributes to and bridges work between scholars of religion and scholars of work and organizations who are interested in processes of hiring and training but do not often consider the role of religion in relation to such processes.