Video Transcript: Chaplains on the Frontier

Henry - So we're going to start finishing this class up by basically three  presentations. Each of them will short. So hang with us here on really the  concept of Chaplains on the frontier, reclaiming the parish for the world of  ministry science vision. So first of all, let's just talk about an army of presence.  Chaplains are not armed with weapons, but with compassion. They carry  Christ's presence to the edges of societies, of society, into hospital, funeral  homes, courtrooms and beyond. Here's often the problem church walls and  wounded people. Many are not rejecting God, but they're rejecting what they  think represents him. The traditional model says invite them to a service, but  what if the service never feels safe, okay? And in researching this for our  presentation, these are some of the real problems and stories that we're seeing  here. How do you know absolutely have you noticed this to be somewhat true?  

Tom - Oh, not somewhat true. Absolutely true. People many people have had a  very negative experience at church, or they've had a negative they've heard of  someone who had a negative experience, and they put that on all people and all churches. And so they're not necessarily saying, I don't want any I don't want to  have anything to do with God, but they're saying I don't want to have anything to do with those people who claim to represent God, and therefore they're probably not going to come. If you invite them to come to church, they might, but  oftentimes that's not what they want, because it's just not a safe place for them,  it's right, it's unknown. If you've never I mean, think about it. You and I grew up  in churches.  

Henry - Yeah, we did. We would go twice on Sunday. Did you go? Oh yeah, oh  yeah. We could go  

Tom - to any church, anywhere. And while it would be a little different, there'd be enough similarity that we would we'd be able to convince ourselves to feel  comfortable. Yeah, but if you've never been and you don't know what's going to  happen, and the only thing you know about church is maybe what you've  gleaned from a movie or a TV show or your mean neighbors next door, you're  not going to go. And why would you so the idea that we're going to reach the  world by inviting people to church? Yeah, it's effective in some cases, but in  many people, the damage is just too deep and too much pain has been caused  already in the past. I love your thing about the parish, because you're smarter  than me about this, but there was a day when you went to a church based on  the geography of where you live, right? That was the parish, and somebody was the priest or pastor of that Parish, and you went to that church because that's  where you live. Of course, those days are gone, but in a way, in chaplaincy, it's  very much like that, because if I am the chaplain for the police department.  Every member of that police department is my parish, right? Every member 

who's there belongs to my community. And I have an opportunity to make a  difference in every one of their lives, because they will see me as their chaplain,  even if they're not people of faith in any sense of the word,  

Henry - I love that Greek word, paroikia, a soul journeying beside, originally, a  mobile spiritual community embedded in the world that was the early Church.  Today, chaplains reclaim the turn for the modern mission. You know, in a sense,  you know, where's your parish, yeah, the country club, where's your parish, the  fire department, where's your you know? So we can, you know, because lot of  time, as we were putting this class together, just talking, so I had the opportunity last fall to talk with you for quite extensively. It really got me thinking and  researching the entire winter about, what are we talking about here? And that's  why to have you here and sort of like, okay, test this is this, you know? And then  seeing that parish was that soldier. It is very, very powerful. So let's talk about  dynamic parishes, not fixed zones. A chaplain parish is not a building or a  boundary. It's a living zone of presence, a hospital unit, a gym, a shelter, an  ongoing support, wherever you consistently show up as Christ's representative  is your parish. Hill by hill chaplains as foot. Soldiers, each chaplain's parish is a  spiritual Hill, a grieving widow, workplace team, a struggling team. Chaplains  show up, bring peace, not platforms, just powerful stuff, impact stories from the  field. You know, an NICU, bedside prayer, a strip club Chaplain outreach,  courtroom, trauma care, online, suicide crisis support, which, again, I'm not  saying that we know how to train that person yet. Chaplains enter spaces where the church doesn't yet reach what do you think about some of that?  

Tom - I think it's great, you know, and it's not, it's not the fault of the church that  they're not present in all those places, because all those places are very unique. And in a way, if I'm a chaplain at a hospital like the NICU, the Neo Intensive  Care Unit, that's part of my parish now, the people who work there and the  patients there, they may have their own pastors too, so it's a team approach,  because we're all trying to support them, but if I'm the chaplain for that hospital, I have a training and an insight that their pastor just can't have because their  pastor doesn't have the experience and the training you're  

Henry - really gonna write to this the parish vs fixed church. Verses, that's  actually a bad word. There verses, no verses, I'm gonna stop talking, because  everything I say, No, no, no, no, stop it. Stop it. Not competitors, but  collaborators. Church. Church forms disciples. Chaplains deploy disciples  together. They fulfill the Great Commission every sphere. I mean, as I really in  our team, and I got to get a lot of credit to my wife and, you know, our sort of  ministry sciences research team here got into the subject and, and that's why  we really wanted you to come, because we really wanted to say we're getting 

into the subject. We literally wanted a seasoned Chaplain who's been around  the block to really help us.  

Tom - That's code for being old, seasoned chaplain.  

Henry - Well, I'll go on to the next slide. So the call to the chaplain parish, you  may not wear a collar, but you are trained and credentialed. You carry the  sacred something you mentioned, and you  

Tom - carry the sacred to the places where it's it most desperately needs to be  seen in many cases, right?  

Henry - What is your Hill, so to speak, what is your circle who needs your  presence? And finally, what is your parish? Not your church title, not your  platform. Your Parish is a place where people meet Jesus through your  presence. Answer the call, show up, sojourn beside, you know and and I think if  we have something we dream about at Christian leaders Institute and Christians alliance is really this army of love, of peace, patience, kindness, goodness,  gentleness, self control, you know, to joy, to really saying, You know what, the  Lord is alive and well, and we we're not going To pretend that we're the answer  people, but we know that he loves you.