Agile Chaplaincy: Understanding the impacts of emerging technologies on the operation of Military Chaplaincy.

这一博士学位关注的是军事牧师如何应对在军队中使用新兴技术，通过绘制出技术如何与士兵的精神生活和他们的牧师的工作相关。这一调查对安全研究和神学很有帮助，因为它突出了这两个学科在军队生活中的交叉，并提出了一些关键问题，围绕着“数字时代”的军事牧师的性质；以及它对安全和适当的士兵福祉的影响。当代战场是由其复杂性和互联性定义的(Singer，2010：41)。因此，未来的战场明显变得更加混乱、无结构和不稳定(Kott，2018：2)。因此，最近的军事文件讨论了这个未来主义战场如何影响部队的杀伤力和防御(国防部，2017)。但他们往往忽视了技术如何影响士兵的福祉。考虑到未来战场的性质，以及它对士兵作战能力以外的不可避免的影响，这种差距令人担忧。因此，政策讨论必须考虑牧师的作用，并承认如果要在战场转型的同时保持适当和安全，就需要修改牧师制度。在极度紧张或悲伤的时候，牧师对士兵的情绪健康至关重要(Davie，2015：43)。新兴技术的变革效应使这一角色变得更加紧迫，未来的战场对作战人员来说不可避免地变得更加紧张和不稳定。

This PhD concerns how Military Chaplaincy is responding to the use of emerging technology in the Military, by mapping out how technology relates to the spiritual lives of soldiers and the work of their chaplains. This enquiry is helpful for Security Studies and Theology, as it highlights the intersections between these two disciplines in the life of the military, and asks critical questions surrounding the nature of military chaplaincy in the 'digital age'; and its implications for security and appropriate soldier wellbeing. The contemporary battlefield is defined by its complexity and interconnectivity (Singer, 2010: 41). As such, the future battlefield becomes something markedly more chaotic, unstructured and unstable (Kott, 2018:2). Consequently, recent military documents discuss how this futuristic battlefield effects force lethality and defence (MOD, 2017). But they often neglect how technology impacts on the wellbeing of soldiers. This gap is worrying, given the nature of the future battlefield, and its inevitable impact on a soldier outside of their ability to fight. Therefore, policy discussions must consider the role of chaplaincy, and acknowledge that it is in need of revision if it is to remain appropriate and secure whilst the battlefield transforms. Chaplaincy is vital to the emotional wellbeing of soldiers in times of extreme stress or grief (Davie, 2015:43). The transformative effects of emerging technologies give this role more urgency, with the future battlefield inevitably becoming a more stressful and precarious place for warfighters.