Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch
The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch provides military chaplains for the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom. Mission. The Mission of the Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch is to serve the RAF Community through: Prayer, Presence and Proclamation. The motto of the branch "Ministrare Non Ministrari" translates as "..To serve, not to be served" and is derived from Mark chapter 10: verse 45. History. The Reverend Harry Viener was invested as the first Chaplain-in-Chief on 11 October 1918 with the Chaplaincy branch officially established in December 1918. Reverend Viener had been a  Naval Chaplain and was 'lent' to the Air Force by the Admiralty. A Chaplaincy school was established at Magdalene College, Cambridge University in November 1943 with the motto of 'Truth'. The Chaplaincy School was moved to Dowdeswell Court in Gloucestershire in February 1945. Thereafter it moved to Amport House in Hampshire in December 1961. In September 2016, the Ministry of Defence announced that Amport House would be put up for sale as part of a programme of defence estate rationalisation. A Better Defence Estate, published in November 2016, indicated that the Armed Forces Chaplaincy would close by 2020, which it  subsequently did, to be relocated to Shrivenham, near Swindon. Training. RAF chaplains and candidates receive training at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, which was located at Amport House until 2020. Endorsing authorities. To serve in the Chaplains Branch, chaplains and candidates must be endorsed by a religious body. RAF commissioned chaplains are accepted from the various Christian denominations. The British military forces are also served by "tri-service chaplains" from other world faiths, including Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh. The RAF also has an honorary Jewish chaplain, Rabbi Malcolm Weisman, who holds the position of Senior Jewish Chaplain to HM  Forces. In 2018, the first Sikh and Muslim military chaplains to join the British armed forces passed out from the Royal Air Force College Cranwell to join the RAF Chaplain's Branch. Chaplain-in-Chief. The RAF Chaplains Branch is led by a Chaplain-in-Chief. Harry Viener was the first "Chaplain-in-Chief". When the Chaplain-in-Chief is an Anglican, he or she is also the "Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force" – otherwise, the most senior Anglican chaplain takes that title along with that of "Principal Anglican Chaplain". World faith chaplains. The Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch has  5 world faith chaplains as of October 2021: Central church. The central church of the Chaplains Branch is St Clement Danes Church in the City of Westminster, London.