The Significant Impact of Chaplaincy
Dr. Robert Crick, director of the Church of God Chaplains Commission, shares about how they are reaching the world through chaplaincy.
We learned a long time ago that we cannot win the world, but we can make significant impacts on parts of it. We simply do not have the resources to go everywhere; therefore, we focus our chaplaincy ministries on specific areas. This strategy is based upon the following:
1. The leadership in an area must be 100 percent convinced that they need chaplaincy ministries and willing to support it wholeheartedly;
2. An area where there is the potential to not only offer chaplaincy courses, but chaplaincy programs to government and civilian agencies;
3. The availability of a core of chaplains who have been trained and are willing to expand this ministry through their country or region.
Over the past several years, we have identified those areas of strength and potentiality:
• South America: We have been in this area for 20 years, with our base at the South American Seminary (SEMISUD). We now offer chaplaincy programs to all 10 South American countries. At our seminary, where we have an academic chaplaincy chair, we offer chaplaincy majors both at the bachelor’s and master’s level.
• Eastern Europe: We have strong chaplaincy programs throughout Eastern Europe, with our strongest and greatest potential program in the country of Romania. It is in Romania that we have built our Eastern European Chaplaincy Training and Development Center, appropriately called RAFA, a “place of healing.”
• Philippines: For the past 25 years we have had chaplaincy programs throughout the Philippines. We have trained more than 1,000 pastors and leaders, and recently established a strong Philippine chaplaincy partnership with the Word for the World International Christian Fellowship.
• Africa: We now have a chaplaincy trainer assigned specifically to develop chaplaincy training/programs for Africa.
• England: The overseer, as well as his fantastic staff and trained chaplains, have a strong chaplaincy outreach. At the present time they have more than 20 full-time chaplains, with a core of more than 300 volunteer chaplains.
• Caribbean: We have a strong chaplaincy presence in most of the Caribbean countries. More notable is our chaplaincy training and programs in Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
• The United States: We have never been stronger than we are right now in the U.S. With some 250 full-time chaplains, a core of 1,000 volunteer and part-time chaplains, this will continue to be a strategic area for growth.
Of course, we are in many other areas; in fact, in 71 different countries. We know that we must strategically go to those areas that will not only promote chaplaincy conferences and courses, but believe that God has given the church a mandate to have a strong ministry beyond the gates.
Dr. Robert Crick, Director
Church of God Chaplains Commission
© 2009 Church of God World Missions
