The Father of Chapel and Mother of Chapel (MoC) are the titles in the United Kingdom referring to a shop steward representing members of a trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 in a printing

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

 office or in journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

. The FoC or MoC is assisted by the Clerk of the Chapel

Clerk of the Chapel

The Clerk of the Chapel is a British title for an assistant shop steward representing trade union members in the printing industry.The Clerk of the Chapel assists the Father of the Chapel. The Clerk acts as secretary at meetings, takes and reads minutes, collects subscriptions and dues, and reports...

 or by a Deputy FoC/MoC.

In the printing trade, a Chapel was the traditional name given to a meeting of compositor

Typesetting

Typesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...

s. The name originates in the early history of printing in Great Britain, when printing offices were controlled by churches (hence "chapel").

The name also honours the origins of British trade unionism, where non-conformist churches often acted as covers for trade union activity, which was illegal at the time.