How often do people encounter chaplains?

Forthcoming research by the Chaplaincy Innovation Lab (Princeton University doctoral candidate Taylor Winfield, CIL Founder Wendy Cadge, and CIL Executive Director Michael Skaggs) indicates that encounters with chaplains are more common than one might think. In the spring of 2019, an AmeriSpeak NORC survey found that 21% of respondents (n=1002) reported contact with a chaplain in the previous two years; among those respondents, over half reported their chaplaincy encounter has having taken place in a healthcare setting.

“This is exciting proof that chaplains are a significant part of the American religious/spiritual landscape,” said Cadge about the results. “We think that people seeking spiritual care are more and more going to turn to chaplains for that kind of care. I look forward to future work in this area as we explore these trends more deeply.”

The paper reporting on these results in full, “The Social Significance of Chaplains: Evidence from a National Survey” is currently under review.