A Campus Come of Age? Reflections on the Contemporary Role of University Chaplaincy through the Lens of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Religionless Christianity

Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflected deeply on the dwindling authority that historic conceptions of religious belief held for those living in modern society. In musing on the position of Christianity and the church in a "world come of age" he highlighted many of the questions and challenges facing Christian ministers in our present age. This article explores the application of his thought to the particular circumstances encountered by chaplains working in Higher Education in the UK. It seeks to draw upon Bonhoeffer's notion of religionlessness as a resource to illuminate the plight of students encountering the polyphony of life, religious groups on campus and the challenge of fundamentalism, and university authorities and chaplaincy where the pursuit of neutrality is sometimes expected.