When law enforcement's "thin blue line" starts to fray emotionally, it's often a police chaplain who provides a patch.
Mike Hardgrove, a police chaplain in Tulsa, Okla., has worked with officers since 1989. During a break this week at the International Conference of Police Chaplains Region 3 training seminar in Omaha, Hardgrove said chaplains are trained to be on guard for signs that the job might be getting to an officer.
"The stress level is unbelievable for these people," Hardgrove said. "What other job, except the military, do we give someone a bulletproof vest, a weapon and a license to kill. Then, if they make a mistake ... maybe use unnecessary force, we nail them to the wall."
The theme of the three-day seminar was "Breaking Through the Thin Blue Line," with much of the training geared toward preparing chaplains to minister to the needs of police officers and their families. About 50 chaplains from 10 states participated.
Hardgrove, a minister in the United Methodist Church, was elected to serve as the ICPC president in 2012.
The organization's annual training seminars, usually held in the fall, cover a range of topics, including cultural diversity, stress management, critical incident debriefing, confidentiality, the post-shooting syndrome and officer burnout.
Terry Olthoff, a Presbyterian minister from Edgerton, Minn., is the organization's Region 3 director. Olthoff said he has been a police chaplain since the late 1970s but is always looking for new techniques to gain the trust of officers.
"We emphasize very strong training and professional demeanor because we don't want any of our chaplains to be mavericks out there on the street," Olthoff said. "One of the key elements is that you wear the cloak of clergy because you have to be yourself. You are not a cop. You are there to serve the officers."
Roger Manning is a Southern Baptist minister who has worked with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and the FBI for four years. He said training with the county's Emergency Service Unit, also known as the SWAT team, helped him empathize with the officers he serves and helped gain their trust.
When ESU is called out, Manning's ring tone notification is "Bad Boys" by Bob Marley. It reminds him, he said, that the situation the officers are responding to may be especially dangerous and desperate.
After a shooting or similar major event, Manning studies the officers for signs of stress. Some signs can be as simple as a normally talkative officer appearing to be withdrawn or an easygoing person exhibiting a short temper.
"I have no problem with saying, 'You don't seem very happy today' or 'Let's go to lunch,'" Manning said. "I definitely don't preach to them. I listen and offer advice, but I don't push religion on them."
Manning also recognizes that some officers may feel more comfortable with a chaplain from another faith. If they want a Catholic priest, he goes down the list of volunteers until he finds one available.
Other times, he said, "Religion might not even enter into the situation. We're here to listen and help however we can."
Hardgrove, the president-elect from Tulsa, said chaplains also have to be there for each other. He worked with first responders after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in 1995 and the World Trade Center in New York City in 2001.
"9/11 was the most horrific thing that I have ever seen," Hardgrove said. "When I came back from New York City, I pretty much had decided that I didn't want to be a chaplain anymore. Through counseling and work with my fellow chaplains, I regained my sense of purpose.
"I'm a chaplain because I feel there's a huge need in my life to serve these officers."
Religious Pluralism
Lori Fullbright, News On 6
TULSA, Oklahoma -- Tulsa police officers and firefighters are thankful this Thanksgiving for a man who plays a crucial role in their lives, a man most Tulsans never even see.
Danny Lynchard has been ministering to crime victims, officers and firefighters for nearly 30 years as the chaplain for both departments.
Danny has recently written a book that has stories from the streets, of what it's like for the men and women protecting us every day and how we can all learn from those encounters.
Mention his name around police officers and firefighters and from the greenest rookie to the most grizzled veteran, you will hear only high praise. He's a man who's been right beside them for three decades, steadfast, always ready with the perfect words.
"I've married them and buried them and I've celebrated their kids births, married their kids, it's a lot of fun," Lynchard said. "These really are good people, top of the line."
Danny counsels officers through difficult times and he and his staff of chaplains get called out at all hours to deliver terrible news with great compassion to family members and offer comfort to victims of unthinkable tragedies. He shares his view of how officers face those situations with courage and valor, in his recent book, Beef Stew for Cops.
"I wanted to help policemen see God for who he is and I wanted families to see their cop for who he is," he said.
But many people not involved in law enforcement have found inspiration in the pages of his book. One man reads the stories one by one to his Sunday school class.
Officers and firefighters know that no matter what is going on politically, personally or professionally, Danny Lynchard is a constant presence of calm and kindness, humor and a handshake.
"Who can you say is there for you no matter what time of the day or night, whether it's personally or professionally," said Tulsa Police Sergeant Mike Huff. "He did the service for my mom's funeral. What can you say, he's just a wonderful guy and you can't measure that."
Danny will tell you he's been the one amazed and humbled by the men and women he ministers too and he never stops appreciating what they do for all of us.
"I'm thankful while I'm sitting around the table enjoying a wonderful feast, with all my family there, that there are men and women who are still going to man the fire trucks and still man the police cars and be there to watch out for us when we don't even think about it," he said. "That's what I'm thankful for."
Danny Lynchard has guided officers through many tough times on the department, most recently the indictment of officers and the police layoffs and through it all, has never gotten in the politics or taken sides and officers have come to count on that.
Des Moines police chaplain, Baptist pastor dies after motorcycle crash
The Rev. Irvin Lewis Photo: Des Moines Police
The man who comforted grieving and troubled police officers is now the one they mourn.
Des Moines police lost a close friend, trusted confidant and community peacemaker Monday when the Rev. Irvin Lewis died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident last week. He was 62.
Lewis was riding his motorcycle eastbound on Army Post Road on June28 when a metal road sign blew in front of his bike and smashed into him. The sign was not anchored by a sandbag, a police report said.
The impact tore the face mask off his helmet and threw him from the motorcycle. He received a broken collar bone, broken ribs, a punctured lung and other injures. A blood clot developed related to the injuries and took his life Monday, police said.
“It’s a total shock,” said Sgt. Lori Lavorato, Des Moines police spokeswoman. “ We didn’t think it was going to be life-threatening .”
Lewis had served as the Des Moines police chaplain for three years, appointed by his longtime friend, Judy Bradshaw, when she ascended to the top cop job in 2007.
Lewis was as genial, gentle man who radiated peace and love, Bradshaw said. In 2008, a Des Moines officer had a heart attack after working out on a treadmill in the gym at Des Moines police headquarters.
The officer later died at a city hospital with his adult daughters by his side. The hospital chaplain sought to console the daughters but they turned him away. Their mother had died suddenly not long before, and they had lost faith, Bradshaw said. Lewis arrived and asked for the officer’s family. Bradshaw took him aside to advise him.
“He went into the room and introduced himself to those young women who had now lost both their parents,” she said. “He wasn’t with them 30 seconds and they put their hands in his and he led them down to the chapel to pray. We all prayed together.
“That was the kind of person Irvin Lewis was.”
Born in New Orleans, Lewis spent his early life as a soldier. If someone asked him what branch of military service, he would reply, “U.S. Army. Is there any other kind?” said his wife, Linda Carter-Lewis, president of Des Moines NAACP.
Irvin Lewis served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He stayed in the Army after the war. Stationed in Korea in 1985, Lewis had an epiphany: He would go into ministry.
The Army sent him to work at Fort Des Moines in 1990. Like many transplants, he had no plans of staying. He changed his mind when he met Linda Carter, a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People leader.
The two married in 2004. Lewis retired from the Army after nearly 27 years and became a pastor. He was pastor of King of Kings Missionary Baptist Church in southeast Des Moines at the time of his death.
Lewis made friends with Bradshaw when the pair both served on a Des Moines schools committee about the arrests of minority students . Bradshaw was impressed with Lewis’ ability to broker peace and respect individual dignity .
“He had a way of making people feel as if their voices were heard and they mattered to him,” she said.
As police chaplain, Lewis leaned on his years as a soldier to earn a place inside the closed police culture. Bradshaw credited Lewis with helping the many officers come to terms with a retired officer’s suicide .
Police viewed Lewis as a confidant, Lavorato said.
“When my mother was in the hospital with cancer, he called me almost every day ,” she said. “After she passed away, he still called once or twice a week. He always let you know he was there for you.”
Bradshaw added, “I just don’t know what we’ll do without him.”
The new year will
bring a new role for
Rabbi Andrew Bloom.
On New Year’s Day,
the religious leader
of Congregation
B’nai Israel in
Rumson was sworn in
as chaplain of the
town’s police
department.
It’s a voluntary
post he considers “a
nice recognition for
myself, for the
synagogue, and for
the Jewish community
here.”
Bloom will be the
department’s first
Jewish chaplain. “It
is a huge leap
forward for our
community and a way
for me to give back
to a group who gives
so much to our
synagogue and our
whole community,” he
told NJ Jewish
News in a
recent phone
interview.
Although the
town’s police
department has no
Jewish members,
Bloom has maintained
a close relationship
with its officers
ever since he moved
to Rumson in 2005,
after serving as
assistant rabbi at
Temple Emanuel in
Woodcliff Lake.
His first day on
the job, Bloom said,
he met Rumson’s
police chief,
Richard Tobias.
“Since then the
rabbi and I have
been friends and
coworkers,” said
Tobias.
Bloom’s
predecessor as
chaplain was the
late Rev. Foster
“Skip” Wilson of the
First Presbyterian
Church of Rumson,
who died in 2008.
The chief and the
rabbi plan to remain
a phone call away
from one another in
case of emergency.
As chaplain,
Bloom will be on
call in case of a
public tragedy and
will be available to
officers or family
members who might be
going through a
rough time or a
crisis.
“If there is a
terrible accident or
a suicide, I may
need to go to inform
the family,” said
Bloom.
The town of 7,200
people has a low
crime rate and a
high median income
of $147,148 —more
than double the
state’s overall
level. “Rumson is
not a high crime
area, but we still
have our sad
events,” said
Tobias. The police
routinely handle
accidents,
burglaries, and
domestic disputes.
The rabbi’s life
has had its own
moments of stress.
Between 1988 and
1991 he served in
the Israel Defense
Forces during the
First Intifada and
the first Persian
Gulf War as a combat
medic in Lebanon,
the West Bank, and
Gaza.
Raised in
Brookville, Md.,
Bloom moved to
Israel after
finishing high
school. He lives in
Rumson with his
wife, Michal, their
two daughters, and
one son.
He serves on the
Monmouth County
Human Relations
Commission as a
representative of
the Shore Board of
Rabbis.
Bloom said he
considers being a
police officer “one
of the most
stressful jobs in
the world. They’re
always on call.
They’re always
putting their lives
on the line, and
every once in a
while, there is a
stressful situation
that someone needs
to talk about.”
Four Chaplains
From
Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
The Four
Chaplains
George
L. Fox,
Alexander D.
Goode
Clark V.
Poling, John
P. Washington
The Four
Chaplains were
four
United States Army
chaplains who
gave their lives to
save other soldiers
during the sinking
of the troop ship
USAT Dorchester
during World War II.
They helped other
soldiers board
lifeboats and gave
up their own life
jackets when the
supply ran out. The
chaplains joined
arms, said prayers,
and sang hymns as
they went down with
the ship.
The torpedo knocked
out the Dorchester's
electrical system,
leaving the ship dark.
Panic set in among the
men on board, many of
them trapped below
decks. The chaplains
sought to calm the men
and organize an orderly
evacuation of the ship,
and helped guide wounded
men to safety. As life
jackets were passed out
to the men, the supply
ran out before each man
had one. The chaplains
removed their own life
jackets and gave them to
others. They helped as
many men as they could
into lifeboats, and then
linked arms and, saying
prayers and singing
hymns, went down with
the ship.
As I swam away
from the ship, I
looked back. The
flares had
lighted
everything. The
bow came up high
and she slid
under. The last
thing I saw, the
Four Chaplains
were up there
praying for the
safety of the
men. They had
done everything
they could. I
did not see them
again. They
themselves did
not have a
chance without
their life
jackets.
—Grady
Clark, survivor
Police Chaplain:
My Cancer Is A
Blessing
Bellevue
Minister
Reaches
Out To
Others,
Endures
Cancer
Treatments
POSTED:
9:10 pm
CST
January
10, 2010
OMAHA, Neb.
-- Doug
Taylor’s
hands shake;
It’s a side
effect of
medical
treatments
the area
police
chaplain has
had to
endure as he
fights
leukemia.
But this
minister
said there’s
no shaking
his faith.
“The kids
laugh. They
say,’Dad,
you write in
italics,’”
Taylor
laughed.
Despite the
tremors,
loss of
energy and
appetite,
Taylor has
found the
strength to
continue
working
through his
illness.
“I’ve been
sitting in
the hospital
and my phone
rings and
it’s a
deputy or
officer
that’s just
having a
rough time
and need to
talk to
their
chaplain.
And I’ll sit
there and
talk them
through it,”
said Taylor,
chaplain of
the Cass
County, Neb.
Sheriff’s
Department
and
Plattsmouth
Police
Department.
The husband
and father
of three
children was
diagnosed
with
leukemia
almost two
years ago.
He’s since
undergone a
bone marrow
transplant
from an
anonymous
donor to try
to cure the
cancer.
Taylor is
associate
pastor at
Midlands
Bible
Baptist
Church in
Bellevue,
Neb. and
said his
illness has
a purpose.
“It has been
a blessing
to me. I
know it
sounds weird
but I’ve
gotten to
help people
I would have
never met
otherwise,”
he said.
Taylor’s
oncologist,
Dr. Marcel
Devetten, at
the
University
of Nebraska
Medical
Center said
Taylor is
always
concerned
about
everyone
else.
“He’s
probably one
of the most
upbeat
people you
will ever
meet in your
life. I
think if
there’s
anything
that can be
given a
positive
spin, he
will be the
person to do
it,” said
Devetten.
Taylor has
willingly
agreed to
talk with
other cancer
patients
about his
journey,
reaching out
to other
cops with
cancer. He
has also
befriended
patients in
the
hospital.
“There was a
lady who had
the same
thing as me.
Unfortunately,
it took her
life. But I
was able to
perform a
funeral for
her family
and help
with that
transition
time. That’s
why (cancer)
is a
blessing,”
said Taylor.
Taylor said
his wife,
children,
extended
family,
co-workers
and church
members have
surrounded
him with
support
through his
journey.
“We know the
Lord has
brought this
into our
lives for
some
reason,”
said
Taylor’s
wife, Kelly,
who’s
managed his
doctor’s
appointments
and home
care
throughout
the illness.
The two said
they don’t
share a lot
of details
about
Taylor’s
“bad days.”
“Those are
between she
and I and
the Lord,”
said Taylor.
Kelly said
her husband
will often
answer the
phone at
home in the
middle of
the night to
talk with an
officer
who’s having
a rough
time.
“That’s him.
That’s just
him,” Kelly
said,
describing
her
husband's
drive to
keep going.
Taylor’s
doctor said
a positive
attitude is
one of the
first things
health care
workers
notice in a
patient.
“There are
no numbers
that show a
positive
attitude
makes a
difference
in outcomes.
But it makes
a big
difference
in how
people
experience
their
outcomes,”
said
Devetten.
Taylor said
his cancer
diagnosis
has expanded
the circle
of people
he’s met and
he can truly
counsel
people with
compassion
and
understanding.
“Now instead
of saying, I
wish I could
relate. I
can relate.
And we can
get together
and work,”
said Taylor.
Copyright
2010 by
KETV.com.
All
rights
reserved.
This
material
may not
be
published,
broadcast,
rewritten
or
redistributed.
Cheryl
Morgan is one of 11 volunteer chaplains
who work with the Billings Police
Department.
Cheryl Morgan and her husband,
Jon, run a lawn-care business, Caring Hands Lawn
Service.
But a few times each month,
Cheryl dons the dark-blue uniform of a police
officer and hops into a patrol car to help
people in distress. Morgan is one of 11
volunteer chaplains who work with the Billings
Police Department.
Her uniform differs from a police
officer's in a couple of ways. For one, she
wears two silver crosses, one on either side of
her collar, and for another, a patch on her
right shoulder identifies her as a police
chaplain.
The sedan she and the other
volunteer chaplains drive is clearly identified
as a chaplain's car. It has flashing red lights,
but no siren.
That doesn't mean Morgan and the
others don't get called out to emergencies. In
fact, that's usually what sends them out on a
call.
Death notifications, suicides,
family disputes and fatal car accidents may all
be reasons police officers send for the chaplain
on call.
"We're there for comfort and to
make calls, if they want prayer, or to transport
them," Morgan said. "It definitely has nothing
to do with trying to preach to anybody or
convert them."
Most of the chaplains who work
with the Police Department are licensed clergy
and full-time pastors. Morgan is an exception,
in that her ministry is her avocation.
But like the rest of the
chaplains, she is ordained. Morgan earned a
degree through a Bible college extension
program.
Outside her work as a police
chaplain, she helps with Sunday services twice a
month at the Montana Women's Prison. And she
leads a Bible study every Tuesday morning at the
Yellowstone County jail.
Sam Kinser, chaplain at the jail,
first brought Morgan to a meeting of the police
chaplains.
"I was quite enthralled with it,"
Morgan said.
The other chaplains obviously
shared her enthusiasm because they voted her in
as a chaplain, and she's been serving ever
since. Morgan is now treasurer of the group,
which makes her a member of the executive
committee.
The number of days she volunteers
in a month varies by the need. Morgan will take
shifts for pastors who can't be available on
Sundays.
How often she gets called out
varies, as well. When she is on duty, she is on
call around the clock.
"Sometimes I can go four months
without a call and sometimes I get two calls in
one day," she said.
The Rev. Don Beal, pastor of
Central Christian Church in Billings, has been a
volunteer chaplain in Billings for 10 years and
now leads the group. Most of the chaplains serve
an average of two to three days a month, Beal
said, and typically get called out two to three
times a month.
"The very first week, I was
called out four times, but that's rare," he
said.
And sometimes chaplains spring
into action even before they're called. Beal
said on a recent evening he came upon an
accident and he turned on his lights until an
officer arrived.
More often, a chaplain is called
when a person is in distress, Beal said.
"We come in and usually do a lot
of listening," he said. "When there's a death,
we try to be there for comfort and support."
More than anything, chaplains
have to be ready for whatever comes up.
"Each situation is so different
that you can't go in with a lot of rules or
guidelines," Beal said. "You have to play every
one by ear."
Chaplains work with the officers,
Beal said, while taking care not to inject
themselves into a situation that could put them
or an officer at risk.
Billings Police Chief Rich St.
John calls the help provided by the chaplains
invaluable.
"We lean on them very heavily
with some difficult situations out in the
community," St. John said.
The department includes
information about the work of the chaplains in
its orientation for new officers, he said. The
chaplains make themselves available not only to
the community, but to the officers themselves
when they're asked, St. John added.
"They're a definite asset to us
and the community," he said. "We certainly
appreciate them. They bring a little bit
different perspective, and they provide
resources and a calming factor. And they've
never said no."
Douglas
County Sheriff's Office
Danny has recently written a book that has stories from the streets, of what it's like for the men and women protecting us every day and how we can all learn from those encounters.
