The Work of the Chaplain (Work of the Church) by Paget Naomi K

Author:Paget, Naomi K. [Inconnu(e)]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Judson Press
Published: 2006-10-15T01:00:00+00:00

Ministry Needs

Personality, cultural machismo, and public expectation place great demands upon first responders. They live in the tension of distress and eustress (good stress) that either enables them to function at peak performance or causes them to experience the physical, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects of physiological and psychological failure. Working with the worst of society, in the most challenging situations, and experiencing the most negative aspects of an unjust world in crisis inevitably cause stress and anxiety that many first responders cannot or will not share with personal family or others. They may feel compelled to protect their families from the negative aspects of their profession, or they may feel that they must live up to the hero ethos. The inability to ventilate emotions appropriately often distances spouses who do not understand the first-responder culture of machismo and who feel they are being excluded or distanced by their first-responder spouse. Consequently there is a higher rate of divorce and second-time divorce among this group than there is in the average population. This cultural climate requires great sensitivity and awareness on the part of first-responder chaplains.

First-responder chaplains may be known as police or law enforcement chaplains, fire department chaplains, emergency services chaplains, or crisis and disaster relief chaplains. (Each of these will be described more fully below.) Their primary focus is to minister to the men and women who serve the public through emergency services agencies. As requested they also provide ministry to the families of officers, firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, crisis relief workers, and the staff members of these agencies. And by the nature of their contact with victims, they also minister to the community.

A first-responder chaplain may also be known as a public-safety or public-service chaplain— providing spiritual care to the members and family of public safety and service agencies. In the context of public safety and service, chaplains provide spiritual care as a priority and also provide religious ministry, advocacy, institutional liaisons, and emotional and spiritual healing through presence, listening, encouragement, and direct interventions during personal crisis. Like other chaplains, they minister in a pluralistic environment regardless of race, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, rank, or presumed guilt or innocence. Public-safety chaplains must remain neutral to the politics and operational differences that often divide agencies. They minister to all people in the department and to the many agencies that cooperate in emergencies, crises, and disasters.

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