Video Transcript: A New Chaplain Field

🏫 A New Chaplain Field: Public Schools

📈 Growth in the Chaplaincy Landscape

Henry:
We’re pivoting a bit to talk about public school chaplaincy as a newly emerging field. And it's fascinating:

• 📍 As of 2025, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana have passed legislation allowing chaplains in public schools.
• 🕊️ These are volunteer or part-time roles — not full-time staff positions.
• 📚 It's a big shift — chaplaincy is expanding beyond the military, hospitals, and prisons into the institution of the public school.

Tom Walcott:
I think it’s a very positive thing. People are beginning to realize that the same value chaplains bring in other settings — like hospitals, prisons, and the military — can also be brought into schools.

“Public schools are where we have the most access to impact the most children.”

This course is designed to help people do that respectfully and rightly — to bring a positive, caring presence into the lives of students.

📰 Mixed Reactions in the News

Henry:
Let’s talk about how this is landing publicly.
In Texas, the legislation passed — but many districts pushed back:

• ❌ Some didn’t want mandatory chaplains
• 🛑 Others didn’t want chaplains at all

It’s new territory — and reactions are complex.

Tom:
The pushback is coming from both sides, interestingly:

1️⃣ From Secular Organizations

Groups like the ACLU worry about proselytizing:

“Here comes Christianity, trying to convert everyone.”

They’re concerned that chaplaincy will be used to push specific beliefs onto children.

2️⃣ From Within Christianity

Even within the Church, people might say:

“As long as the chaplain believes like me, I’m fine with it.
But those Christians? I don’t want them influencing my kids.”

So the concern isn’t just religious vs. secular — it’s also denominational mistrust.

🙏 A Parallel with Prayer in Schools

Tom:
This reminds me of the prayer in public schools debate.

There’s value in prayer — obviously. But the issue is:

• ❓ Who leads the prayer?
• ❓ What kind of prayer is it?
• ❓ What if the teacher is an atheist, or from a different tradition?

The same concern applies to chaplaincy if it's misunderstood.

“If people think chaplains are coming in to lead chapels, preach, or proselytize, that’s a problem — and that’s not the goal here.”

The focus of school chaplaincy must remain:

• Providing emotional and spiritual care
• Supporting students, faculty, and staff
• Not growing a church membership list

🤝 Building Trust, Not Membership

Tom:
If your attitude is:

“I’m going to grow my church by 100 kids,”
then you will:

• 🚫 Be rejected
• ❌ Hurt the program
• 💔 Violate the school’s trust

Even in the military, I never saw my role as building up the Christian Reformed Church.

“My goal was to help people be the best version of themselves within their faith tradition.”

If someone asked me about my church, I’d tell them — but only if they initiated.

🧠 Final Reflection

Henry:
So this emerging role is complex. You have:

• Concerns about evangelism
• Concerns about denominational representation
• An emerging legal structure in just a few states
• A wide opportunity for service... but also scrutiny

And that’s where we are — on the ground floor.

🚪 Gaining Access to Serve: Starting as a Public School Chaplain

🧱 Overcoming Initial Barriers

Henry:
In many ways, the person called to be a public school chaplain faces some obstacles right from the start:

• Many schools may have never had a chaplain before
• Some administrators may not even be aware that this is now legal in states like Florida, Louisiana, and Texas
• Over 13 other states are currently considering similar programs

Later in this course, we’ll talk about:

• How to talk to a principal
• How to volunteer wisely in unfamiliar territory
• How to introduce yourself as a chaplain candidate

📄 Building a Strong Resume

Henry:
Let’s talk about the resume. To show a school that you're a good candidate:

🗂️ Show what you've done outside your local church.

Tom:
That’s right. Even in the military, when we interview chaplain candidates, we don’t just ask,

“Are you a great pastor in your denomination?”

We ask:

• What volunteer work have you done?
• Have you supported the PTA or local clubs?
• Have you already engaged with children or families outside your church?

All of that helps gauge how you'll do when you're placed in a diverse, secular environment.

👩‍👧 Called Moms in the Mission Field

Henry:
I believe many of those called to this field will be moms — whose kids attend the very schools they’ll serve.

• They already read to kids
• Already volunteer in the classroom
• Already known by the superintendent or principal

They may already be showing care and kindness — before ever holding the title of chaplain.

🆘 What Students Are Facing

Henry:
Let’s talk about the world these students live in. Here’s just part of the reality:

Crisis in the classroom:

• Rising anxiety, depression, suicide
• Bullying (especially online)
• Violence, family breakdown, identity confusion
• A culture saturated with pressure and performance

Tom:
The list is staggering. And social media has intensified it all:

• Kids today face constant comparison
• There’s pressure even in elementary school to perform like professional athletes
• We’re seeing mental health challenges in younger and younger children

A child in lower elementary recently spoke to his parents about hurting himself or others.
That level of distress was almost unheard of decades ago.

🧠 Philosophical Identity Confusion

Henry:
Today’s kids are growing up amid deep philosophical divides about identity and what it means to be a person:

Three major views:

1. ✝️ Christian View – Created male and female by God, with intentional design and purpose
2. ⚖️ Modernist View – Objective truths like male/female exist, but God is unprovable
3. 🌀 Postmodern View – No design, no objective truth; identity is self-created and fluid

These worldviews are not just theological — they’re now embedded in education, media, and social dynamics.

"It’s no wonder our children are struggling."
We’ve lost a consensus on even the most basic human truths.

🧑‍🏫 The Complexity of the Classroom

Tom:
The complexity inside a classroom today is staggering:

• 🏘️ Economic diversity
• 🌎 Racial and religious diversity
• 🌈 Students with gay parents, single parents, blended families, and more
• 🧠 Vast identity ideologies under one roof

“You’ll have to be able to care for all, even if you don’t agree with all.”

In the military, I cared for people I didn’t agree with all the time. They didn’t always agree with me either.
But I was present and available to help.

💛 Ministry Without Agreement

Tom:
You don’t go into public school chaplaincy thinking:

“I’m going to fix every family and change every belief system.”

You go in with this posture:

“While students are at school, they’ll know there’s a safe, caring, present person who’s there for them.”

Henry:
That’s such a vital concept — to care even if you disagree. The philosophical fault lines are real, but so is the call to love.

🌊 Closing Reflection: The Streams We Must Navigate

Henry:
So, three major philosophical streams now run through public schools — and society:

1. 🕊️ The Christian view of God-given design
2. 📊 The modernist view of provable objectivity without God
3. 🎭 The postmodern view of identity as experience and expression

Tom:
And those streams are all present in any given classroom.

A chaplain’s role is not to resolve all of it, but to be present, be kind, and walk with students in their struggles.

🧠 Identity, Technology, and Walking Beside Students

🤖 Synthetic Identities in a Digital Age

Henry:
Technology is shaping how young people see themselves.
By junior high, many begin forming synthetic identities:

• Through gaming, avatars, or online personas
• They start to lose connection with their physical identity
• They become more cyber-based than soul-based

"I just finished writing Organic Humans, and I realized how much has shifted from when we were young."

🐾 Ministry to the Marginalized

Henry:
Imagine you're called to minister to someone who identifies as a furry, or embraces a nontraditional identity. The posture must be:

“I’m here to serve and love whoever I’m called to be around.”

Tom:
You're planting seeds:

• Showing that spiritual leaders can be trusted
• That they're not there to harass or control
• That they can accept without agreeing

Care opens the door for deeper conversations — but only after trust is earned.

🤲 Care Without Control

Henry:

“Don’t go into public school chaplaincy if your care is connected to control.”

Tom:
Chaplaincy requires gentleness, meekness, servanthood.
Not everyone has these spiritual gifts — and that’s okay.

🎶 “If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be a servant of all.”
That could be the theme song for public school chaplaincy.

🧰 Spiritual Gifts for Chaplaincy

Tom:
The chaplain must be:

• Kind
• Humble
• Able to serve without platform
• Equipped to engage complex, diverse environments

“To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak... I have become all things to all people...”
(1 Corinthians 9:22)

🧑‍🏫 From the Military to the School Hallways

Henry:
In the military, generals know the value of chaplains.
But in a public school, a principal or superintendent might say:

“We didn’t have chaplains before. Why now?”

Tom:
Even in the Navy, new commanding officers often ask:

“Chaps… what exactly do you do?”

And the answer becomes clear:

“Just take care of my people.”

The same posture applies in schools:

“I’m here to care, support, encourage, and be present.”

🙅 Clarifying the Role

Tom:
A principal may ask:

“Are you trying to convert students?”

And the answer is:

“That’s not my role. I’m here to care.”

Evangelism is a valid calling — but not in this setting.
This chaplain role is one of presence, not proselytization.

🤝 Presence in Secular Spaces

Henry:
This is new territory. You are stepping into secular spaces where:

• Prayer is by invitation, not assumption
• Care is constant, not conditional
• Trust is earned, not expected

“Presence doesn’t dominate — it dignifies.”

📅 Practical Boundaries and Trust

Tom:
Because this is a volunteer or part-time role:

• Be clear about your availability
• “I’m here Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
• “I’ll attend the PTA or parent-teacher night.”
• Communicate with the superintendent
• “How can I best serve your school?”

And above all:

If you say you’ll be somewhere — be there.
If they call on you — answer.

🕊️ Sent into a New Frontier

Henry:
You are being sent into public schools — a new frontier of ministry.

“Students are on an emotional battlefield —
with social media, diverse worldviews, and fractured families.”

You are called not to lead from the front, but to:

“Walk beside them and bear one another’s burdens.” (Galatians 6:2)

🌱 Closing Encouragement

Tom:

“Done well, this will have a life-changing impact —
not only on the students,
but on the chaplains who have the privilege to serve in this role.”