Chaplains work in settings where people may experience challenges, transitions, conflict, grief, or joy. Chaplains accompany people in their search for meaning, coping with suffering, advocating for institutional or systemic change, and observance of rituals and ceremonies. Settings include: hospitals, prisons, colleges, hospice/palliative care centers, nursing homes, airports, sea ports, all branches of military and the national guard, ecological and environmental organizations, neighborhoods, social justice movements, affiliated with congregational ministries, addiction and recovery programs, mental and behavioral health programs, community celebrants/officiants, search and rescue teams, disaster and emergency response agencies, refugee and humanitarian agencies, etc. People who wish to serve as chaplains to specific populations or in specific contexts may need to be entrepreneurial to demonstrate the value of what they can offer to the mission of a potential employer, to create jobs, programs, or offer themselves as volunteers.

