Church of God Chaplains Commission

Church of God

Chaplains Commission

Weekly Update 19 Mar 2007

Choice Christian greetings!

The Chaplains Commission was officially approved as a department in 1978. At that time, we had very few full-time chaplains, either in the military or civilian areas. From 1978 to the present, God has blessed us with 2600 chaplains serving in 68 different countries. Of course, most of this number is made up of Community Service Chaplains. These chaplains are those who pastor churches and are involved in other ministries, but provide chaplaincy ministry to a number of different institutions. They are trained, certified and endorsed. On any given day, throughout the year, you will find them in hospitals, prisons, law enforcement agencies, shopping centers, airports, college and university campuses, and the list goes on. They, more than any group I know, have alerted fellow ministers to “pastor their community, rather than simply their local church.”

Now, let me say a word about our full-time chaplains. We are talking about hundreds of chaplains in the military, hospitals, prisons; and, here again, the list goes on. They not only serve in the United States, but in many countries. In some countries, the work is so large that we must have a full-time director of chaplaincy ministries just for that region. Many of these chaplains, probably more than 75%, have a Masters Degree; and most have specialized, clinical training. Some of them are specialists in children’s care ministries; for example, a specialist in a hospital, giving care to children who are dying, and their family members. In these clinical and other settings, they teach and direct critical incident stress training/debriefing, grief counseling, domestic abuse, suicide intervention and prevention, etc. If the Church of God had to pay the salaries of our full-time chaplains, who of course are paid by the institutions they serve, the budget would exceed 20 million dollars annually. That means, as a result of someone else’s budget, we place full-time Pentecostal chaplains in these institutions with the greatest Gospel message on earth. Our chaplains and their families sacrifice every day to take the message of Christ to a desperate, wounded world.

NEWS FROM THE FIELD:

1. Army Chaplain (CPT) Everett Franklin, Fort Rucker, Alabama, sent this payer request: “Pray for the Steward Family. Their son, Michael Brown, was killed when the tornados hit the Enterprise high school. Also, pray for other military personnel and their family members affected by this storm. As many may not know, Fort Rucker sits adjacent to Enterprise, Alabama. Several of the kids killed or injured in the storm were from military families.”

2. Clinical Chaplain Maxima Cox, Great Falls, Montana, reports: “The young man that shot himself is finally out of intensive care. I have been at his bedside ministering to him and his family. When I prayed with the young man, he smiled at me; he knew exactly our conversation concerning the things of God. Praise the Lord for His mercy.”

3. Chaplain Betty Rodgers, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, notes: “As you know, my ministry is to widows. I have the privilege each week of giving baskets of food to widows. We have a monthly luncheon whereby we minister to these outstanding ladies. Our widows group also supports widows in India, as well as sends items to the Smoky Mountain Children’s Home.”

4. Army Chaplain (CPT) Jeff Roberson, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, notified us that the prayer breakfast with his field artillery unit was outstanding. The speaker for that breakfast was his dad, Reverend Wayne Roberson, who worked with the Chaplains Commission for a number of years. I think most of you know that Wayne is a Retired Air Force (LTC) who served 15 years in the Strategic Air Command as a B-52 Electronic Warfare Officer. Wayne flew 200 combat missions during the Vietnam War. It is so pleasing to see the dedication of Wayne being passed on to his son, Jeff; an outstanding Army chaplain who recently completed a one-year deployment to Iraq.

5. Special prayer is requested for the family of Prison Chaplain Bill Whittenberger, Yuma, Arizona. Bill’s mother passed away this past week. I know you will be praying for him and other members of his family.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 12-14 – Chaplaincy Basic Course, Weatherford, Texas

April 19-21 – Chaplaincy Basic & Specialized (Domestic Violence) Course, Birmingham, Alabama

April 25-27 – Chaplaincy Specialized (Addictions) Course, Edmonds, Washington

May 3-5 – Chaplaincy Basic Course, Beckley, West Virginia

May 7-11 – Chaplaincy Basic Course, Moosejaw, Canada

May 10-12 – Chaplaincy Specialized (Addictions) Course, Gallup, New Mexico

May 14-16 – Chaplaincy Specialized (Corrections) Course, Moosejaw, Canada

May 16-18 – Chaplaincy Specialized (Campus Ministries) Course, Cleveland, Tennessee

June 4-8 – Chaplaincy Basic Course, Cleveland, Tennessee

July 9-13 – Chaplaincy Basic and Specialized (Law Enforcement) Course, New York, New York

If you are interested in participating in one of these training events, contact Dr. Doc Williams at doccc@bellsouth.net.

FINALLY:

Last week, I had the opportunity to witness first hand the fantastic Church of God Youth Winterfest held at the University of Tennessee Thompson-Boling Arena. Almost 20,000 young people gathered to express in their own style their passion for the Lord, Jesus Christ. You cannot attend one of these events without a deep sense of thanks to Reverend Mark Abbott and the hundreds at the International, National and State levels who make these events possible. I met young people whose lives had been revolutionized at one of these special encounters with the Lord. The Chaplains Commission is privileged to be in partnership with the Youth Department in the development of our Alpha-Omega Campus Chaplaincy Ministries. As I witnessed this large gathering of Church of God youth, I thought to myself, “Herein lies our future. If we can reach them with a deep passion for our Pentecostal and holiness doctrine and practices, we will have a future.” But the requirements are high for all of us. These kids will be turned off by our lack of commitment and integrity. They will not tolerate a system that is maintained for the benefit of the few. They will require of us, as their leaders, unadulterated truth, deep prayer and personal devotion. While they exercise their passions in a different manner, they nevertheless want us to be like a mighty oak tree whose limbs are healthy and roots for the Pentecostal faith are deep and strong. Chaplains, like all ministers, must be spiritual lighthouses that help guide our next generation to those places of commitment and service.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robert D. Crick

Director, Chaplains Commission

Director’s email: cricksot@worldnet.att.net

Office email: Chapcm@bellsouth.net

Website: www.cogchapalins.com

RDC/vja