11/07/2025
In address to the General Synod, Brigadier Jaish Mahan, Deputy Commander of the 1st UK Division – who has served in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan – spoke of how the world is in a “complex place”’ currently with conflict in Europe and in the Middle East, and several other “unstable” regions around the world.
He said the Army is “hugely privileged” to be supported by “truly exceptional” chaplains who, he said, are “part of the fabric of our family”.
“Their role is complex, from pastoral and spiritual, through to moral, often helping our leaders make the right decisions on a difficult day,” he said.
“My own personal experience of chaplains across my career and deployments has been that they have been truly exceptional people,” he added.
Brigadier Mahan, a practising Christian, asked members to pray for and support members of the Armed Forces who face dangers to protect the nation.
He drew a connection between the place of the Armed Forces and the Church which he said had “always stood fast in times of crisis”.
He said: “First, please continue to pray for and support those men and women, and their families, who put themselves in harm’s way to protect our nation.
“Secondly, please consider how you as the church leadership might support our nation, now in this time of uncertainty and should, heaven forbid, we find ourselves in a large scale conflict.
“The military, like the church, is part of the fabric of our nation, fundamental pillars that hold together our house, our society.”
See below for Brigadier Mahan's full address.
The General Synod will tomorrow consider proposals to simplify the licensing arrangements for Armed Forces chaplains, enabling them to minister under an Archbishop’s licence without requiring diocesan permission.
Members will also hear from the Bishop to the Armed Forces, the Rt Revd Hugh Nelson, who in a paper to Synod reflects on the Church’s role in a time of heightened global conflict and calls for prayer, hospitality, and theological reflection on peace and war.