What is a Community Chaplain?
How many Community Chaplains do you have now? How many do you anticipate in the future?
When/where did this concept start?
How do Community Chaplains differ from Corporate Chaplains?
What do you mean by spiritual caregiver?
Why do you refer to the ministry as “process-managed”?
What do you mean by “commissioning”?
Is this program based on specific religious denominations or affiliations?
Does CCA have a mission statement?
What is a Community Chaplain?
A Community Chaplain is a personal and spiritual caregiver whose primary job is to serve the emotional, physical, spiritual, and personal needs of people in the community around him/her.
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How many Community Chaplains do you have now? How many do you anticipate in the future?
The number of Community Chaplains grows every day with more and more people hearing about this opportunity and involving their church and community. Our vision is to have “Thousands of Chaplains serving millions of people by 2012”.
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When/where did this concept start?
There are really two answers to this question!
Chaplaincy dates back to a man known as St. Martin of Tours, who as a soldier, comforted a cold beggar by cutting his heavy cape in half to share with the man. Later that night, Martin dreamed he saw Jesus wearing the same half cape and it became known as a “cappa”. A cape was kept in a “capella” and the French equivalent “chappele” became our word “chapel”. The priest in charge was known as the “chappelain” or keeper of the cloak or keeper of the compassion.
Today, the Community Chaplain program has evolved from the Corporate Chaplains of America (CCA) organization that was initiated in 1996 by founder and President, Mark Cress. While there are some Christian-owned companies that have their own chaplains on staff, Cress saw a need for Corporate Chaplains to be available as a resource to business owners that wanted to offer their employees the services of a spiritual caregiver who is available 24/7 to care for their needs. In just over a decade, CCA has grown to nearly 100 chaplains serving some 600 company locations throughout the U.S.
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How do Community Chaplains differ from Corporate Chaplains?
The role of a Corporate Chaplain is to serve the needs of the employees of companies who have contracted for their ministry services with CCA. Each Corporate Chaplain is an employee of CCA and provides spiritual care in the workplace for approximately 650 people from one or a number of companies.
A Community Chaplain on the other hand is not an employee or agent of CCA but a volunteer chaplain serving the needs of people in their community.
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What do you mean by spiritual caregiver?
A Community Chaplain serves as a caregiver to folks who do not have a church home. Care can include hospital visitation, marriage and divorce questions, funeral services, jail visits, prayer requests, and assistance with many difficult family and personal issues. The care provided is always at the initiation of the individual and only after permission is granted.
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Why do you refer to the ministry as “process-managed”?
This is a fancy phrase for consistency which basically means following a consistent method of caring for people’s needs by having everyone use the same materials and be recognized by their association with Community Chaplains of America. Each Community Chaplain can purchase an Empowerment Kit which contains a Community Chaplain Handbook, Community Chaplain Training Workbook, and Empowerment Audio Series set of 10 CDs on subjects such as Financial Crises, Grief, Legal Issues, Suicide, etc. See Empowerment Kit Contents.
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What do you mean by “commissioning”?
When a person is truly interested in moving forward in service as a Community Chaplain, we ask that they become officially commissioned by their church pastor. At that point they can receive additional materials and access to further benefits associated with the program. See Commissioning Requirements.
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Is this program based on specific religious denominations or affiliations?
While Community Chaplains of America has affiliations with many churches and organizations such as the North American Mission Board, many Community Chaplains will operate as individual volunteer chaplains at their work and in the community once they have been commissioned by their church. Others will work in teams on behalf of churches or religious organizations, and Community Chaplains of America will provide these groups with training and continuing resources for their teams. All Community Chaplains will share a common purpose and be guided by the same mission.
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Does Community Chaplains of America have a mission statement?
Yes, our mission is: “To build caring relationships with the hope of gaining permission to share the life changing Good News of Jesus Christ in a non-threatening manner”.
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NOTE: For additional FAQs, click on the main FAQ header and review by category of questions.
