One year on, Stig and Jo take the opportunity to return to where our podcast started, with a conversation between ourselves about what chaplaincy is all about in the 2020s. Stig suggests chaplaincy is riddled with assumptions and we note how these can be fuelled by prejudice or discrimination. We explore how we need to keep our own assumptions in check and open to change; whether we assume another's thoughts about dying, or their family cohesion, or their sexuality, or their ability to understand, or their ethical stances, or their political views, and so on. On the other hand, we also encounter assumptions that others may have about us as chaplains; about our beliefs or practices, or about our level of interest in them. So yes, assumptions are everywhere; as chaplains we should probably be intrigued where they are proved wrong and emboldened to counter any stereotype that others assume about us.
