The Power of Presence: ATU’s Approach to Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care

The Power of Presence: ATU’s Approach to Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence”, Thich Nhat Hanh

Background and purpose of the presentation

This presentation highlights the presence in practice approach within ATU’s Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care. At its heart, presence is about showing up and offering attention, compassion, and grounded human connection. In an increasingly digital world, where services move behind screens and human contact quietly diminishes, more people report feeling unseen, underscoring the importance of presence now more than ever.

A summary of the main points of the presentation

• To highlight the evolving landscape of Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care in Higher Education, through a collaborative approach that serves the diverse needs of students of all faiths and none across ATU’s nine campuses.

• To consider models that support the presence in practice approach. Presence is an ethical and transformative practice of showing up for human connection and care (Arendt, 1958). It is enacted through alert awareness, receptivity, and connectedness (Rodgers & Raider-Roth, 2006). Together, these perspectives provide a foundation for reimagining Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care at ATU as a practice rooted not in religious identity but in relational presence.

• To demonstrate the outworking of the presence in practice approach through examples within ATU’s Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care.

How the presentation will address one or more of the seminar’s theme and subthemes

Professional Practice in Student Support and Engagement

• Advising, supporting and empowering students:

Our daily work is underpinned by four principles: listening, providing emotional and spiritual support, and promoting cultural understanding. In practice, this means advising, supporting and empowering students by being present with compassion and an understanding of the nuances of each campus.

• Conclusions from and implications of your presentation for practice, policy or further research.

Using ongoing data collection to inform and contribute to professional practice and presence-centred policies, such as the Psychosocial Response to Staff Death.