Articles for tag: Chaplaincy

Police Chaplains Struggle Alongside Officers During Pandemic, Protests

By Chris Moon These are not easy days to be a police officer—or a police chaplain. The effects of COVID-19 and the racial tensions that have swept the country have made the jobs of those who try to keep the peace and those who minister to them difficult. “It has affected us quite a bit,” said Bob Heath, a chaplain with the Joplin (Mo.) Police Department. Heath has served as a police chaplain for 28 years. He also is the bookstore manager and purchasing agent at Ozark Christian College and the pastor of Diamond Grove Christian Church. He also serves

Bailey’s Dream of Military Chaplaincy Has Covered 16 Years

By Chris Moon Sometimes, a vision doesn’t immediately come to fruition. It can take years to develop. Such has been the case for Jamin Bailey. Sixteen years ago, while he was a preaching student at Johnson University in Knoxville, Tenn., he visited his brother at a military base. While there, he saw a couple of Marines getting “dressed down” by a sergeant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “In the midst of this uproar came a chaplain,” Bailey told Christian Standard. “I do not know who he was or how he knew to be there that

'Will You Say a Prayer for Me?'

William S. Boice graduated from Cincinnati Bible Seminary, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Harvard Chaplain’s School, landed at Utah Beach with the troops on D-Day, and was “the first chaplain on German soil with our troops” during World War II, according to newspaper clippings. The Army chaplain, who subsequently started First Christian Church, Phoenix, Ariz., in 1952, wrote about “Another Part of a Chaplain’s Life” for this Christian Standard article from 75 years ago. _ _ _ Somewhere in Germany Another Part of a Chaplain’s Life By Chaplain (Capt.) William BoiceJan. 6, 1945; p. 8 Gone are the pleasant days

Unexpected Encounters

Two days in the life of  a volunteer hospital chaplain By Charlie Maloney One way I have served our community through the years is as a volunteer chaplain at our local hospital. When the hospital asked our ministerial association for volunteer help, I gladly accepted. I have the gift of compassion, and the hospital was only a mile from my church. Camarillo is a small, everyone-knows-everyone type of town. So this was a perfect way for me to contribute to the spiritual well-being of the place I have lived for 35 years. Stray Puppy One morning, as I was preparing

What Is Hospice?

By Karen Diefendorf The first modern hospice began in England in 1967. It was introduced in the United States by its British founder, who came to Yale University in 1974 to speak about its benefits at a medical symposium. In 1982, Congress included a provision to create a Medicare hospice benefit. Here is some basic information: Hospice . . . “¢ is not a place, but a concept of care; “¢ can be given anywhere . . . home, nursing home, assisted living, hospital, hospice house, etc.; “¢ is for those with a terminal illness that no longer responds to

Interview with John Craycraft

By Paul Boatman John Craycraft is executive director of the Chaplaincy Endorsement Commission (CEC) for the Christian churches/churches of Christ. Prior to his 2006 appointment, he served 16 years in local church ministries, and 26 years as a Navy chaplain, retiring as a captain.   How does chaplaincy differ from ministry in the local church? In the congregational ministry you may see children born, grow up, get married . . . you live a life cycle with them. In any chaplaincy you are with people for only a limited time and then you may lose track. Ministry may be really intense, but the

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