How You Practice Faith...Yes You!

At the age of 16, I made a decision that would change my life forever. I decided to put my faith and trust in God. I did not fully understand what that meant at the time but it was something I have never regretted.

The word faith and the explanation of what it looks like, have been rejected by many over the centuries because it simply does not fit in with their view of life. They would point out that it would be foolish to believe in someone or something, if you can't positively prove it scientifically or otherwise. It seems like a reasonable way of thinking until you break it down by looking at our personal lives and how each and every person reading this, has practiced "faith" their entire lives.

All the atheists and people of no particular faith will probably laugh at such a statement because they will be quick to deny the legitimacy of the statement. Many well-known scientists over the centuries made it to this point and then realized that there must be more. Things that science simply could not explain.

Some of you will be surprised to learn that the authenticity of the Bible is unmatched in history. I won't get into it here but check it out yourself if you don't believe me. It is important to include that in this blog because many of you think that is a non-starter, basically because you have never actually looked into it and simply believed what others have told you to believe.

Now about that thing called faith. Buckle up because you are about to feel very uncomfortable and will probably look for a way to get off this fast-moving train. I am going to give you a few very simple examples of how each human practices faith almost every day. I share these in an attempt to tear down the preconceived ideas that faith in a God you can't see or touch, is at best, a fairy tale. Here we go...

When you walk into a room you have never been in and sit in a chair you have never sat on, you are practicing faith. Maybe you would never do that before checking out the manufacturer of the chair? Silly, right?

How about going into a fancy restaurant and ordering a nice juicy steak from the menu? You don't know the chef and without much thought, assume that they will not poison the food or do other nasty things to it before you sink your teeth into it. Think about that and whether an element of faith might be involved.

Then there is a thing most of us have done many times without giving much thought to the details. I recently travelled by plane where we flew 36,000 feet above the surface of the earth. I did not spend one minute checking out the credentials of the pilot and co-pilot. I did not confirm the qualifications of the mechanics who worked on the aircraft before taking off. Now maybe those of you who don't believe in faith, would do thorough background checks to put your minds at ease. Forgive me if I
assumed too much.

I could go on and on with examples but I think you get my point. Something that I have personally never understood with my non-believing friends, is the faith they have in evolution. I studied it in school and it is taught as fact and if you have no exposure to Christianity, you will believe the theory until the day you die. I maintain that you need more faith to believe in evolution than you do in God creating us.

I realize this short blog won't influence too many people to change their opinion about faith and God but I sat back this weekend and considered all the people each of you look up to and admire. If you are a golf fan, you just saw a man of faith win the trophy as the best golfer in the world. All weekend the TV announcers talked about his character and made every effort not to speak about his faith in Jesus Christ as being the reason. It pointed out again, that the world we live in is not going to encourage you to become a person of faith. 

Hopefully something I have said here will at least cause you to think about those things you don't have an answer for. 

Is The Church Paying Attention?

I want to be very careful with this blog because I don't want to sound negative. Yet to express my thoughts negativity will be evident: so is disappointment. For years the Church (I use this term because it applies to most Evangelical Christian churches) has looked for ways to be salt and light in the world we live in. As many of us complain about Christianity becoming more and more marginalized in North America I wonder if we miss opportunities when they are presented to us.

I was recently approached my an organization that in almost all aspects is a secular group. They have little or no Christian influence in their leadership and membership. Their primary objective is to help police officers who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). For those not familiar with this issue, let me explain.

PTSD is usually a result of traumatic incidents in the life of a cop or any first responder or soldier. It is not limited to these professions but it is most common among these men and women. The symptoms range from the inability to sleep all the way to suicide. If you follow the news you may have heard of cops committing suicide in bunches over the past year in Southern Ontario alone. This organization has volunteer counsellors in place but is still a work in process. Psychologists, psychiatrists, Equine Therapy, yoga and meditation are all represented and available to cops who need the services of someone that can help them battle through PTSD. In many cases the clients have suicidal thoughts because they feel they can not go on with life. Often medications are used as a tool for coping.

The stigma attached to PTSD is enormous and as a result many cops live with it in silence. Often they fear loss of jobs and even ridicule from fellow cops although this is becoming less of an issue with more education and exposure in the media. In the province of Ontario, legislation is in place to make it easier to receive Workmen's Compensation if someone is suffering from PTSD as a result of their profession. This organization was standing on stage as the announcement was made earlier this year.

That is the background and this is where my disappointment enters in. The organization who approached me after seeing a blog I had written about chaplains working with cops, wants Christian Chaplains/Counsellors to become part of their team. Let me repeat that: a secular organization has asked Christians to help them serve men and women who are desperate. In fact one of the leaders of this organization spent some time describing her journey with PTSD and how faith in God helped her get back on her feet. Pretty exciting...right?!

Not so much based on the response from 3 separate Christian organizations. Two denominations that I am associated with and a Chaplain organization have either said they are not interested or have given me and the above mentioned organization no answer. They are not even returning emails.

What is wrong with this picture? I could be on this team already but the desire of the organization is to have Christian Chaplains/Counsellors in place across Canada and they feel the best way to do that is through a denomination. Makes sense.

In case anyone is already thinking there is a catch, let me assure you there is not. It was clearly stated to me that they don't need psychiatrists or psychologists or yoga instructors: they already have that in place. They want the "faith" element which may be desired by some cops. The idea being that every person is different and they are drawn to what is most comfortable for them. As a Christian I know that the Lord is more than able to help someone who is desperate. God is in the business of helping broken people and He has been doing it for centuries.

So I am putting this blog out there hoping some Christian organization wakes up in time to not miss this opportunity. That may sound a bit harsh but I feel it is an accurate way of portraying the response to date. I keep telling myself it is God's timing and not mine and yet I feel compelled to put this request out there today. I pray that the Holy Spirit would open both eyes and hearts because the need is great and very real. Thank you for listening.

Get Serious!

I am not a police officer. I have never suffered from Post Traumatic Stress (Disorder). I am a chaplain. I was a pastor for 16 years. I was a chaplain for the Toronto Police Service. Over the past year I have been suggesting that First Responders and those responsible for helping them in the area of PTS need to start looking at the spiritual side of the human.

There are organizations, and you know who you are, that have politely acknowledged my emails and then never followed up. There are EFAP's that claim to be doing everything they can. Really?

I am angry because another 2 cops appear to have committed suicide in the Toronto area this week. I believe 4 First Responders in total have taken their own lives in the past week in Southern Ontario. The finger pointing and accusations always follow these events and yet those doing the finger pointing and those who care for our First Responders the most, refuse to look at all options. Maybe a better word would be exhaust all options.

I wrote a blog on this subject in January 2015. My suggestion was and is, that Christian chaplains (I know that is politically incorrect) could be a huge resource in battling the issue of confidentiality and the fear associated with "coming out". Rather than the first contact point for our men and women being the EAP or even a fellow first responder, make it a chaplain that doesn't have to report the name of anyone that comes to them. Let the chaplain use their training to help the individual. Let them be the ones who make the call to get professional help if it is deemed appropriate.

This would mean fully trained chaplains and not just pastors that want to go on the occasional ride-along. Hire chaplains to be out on the roads on a regular basis building relationships with first responders. Chaplains that will go out after work for a coffee or even a beer. Chaplains that will take the time to listen to what is on the hearts of these men and women.

Let me make something perfectly clear: I know most EAP's don't want anything to do with a spiritual solution to any problem, let alone PTS. If you are not a psychologist or a psychiatrist you simply don't have the credentials in their opinion. My question to each of you is this: who says? Who says that someone like me, who has probably dealt with just as many serious situations as many in an EAP have, will not have a better opportunity to bring healing to a broken person? The Christian church is made up of millions upon millions of broken people that today live full and productive lives. Is it possible that some of the solutions that First Responders and their EAP's are looking for are right under their noses?

Someone has said that anecdotes are not scientific proof that the Christian faith works. That is what those who don't understand faith use as their argument. As they do this, they close the door on possible solutions for those suffering from PTS and the reason usually goes no further than their own bias views on matters of faith. The term "holistic" is used when referring to getting every possible form of help for a person but in reality it only refers to the mind and body. This is not the forum to try and convince anyone of the spiritual makeup of people and yet to ignore it is not helpful and betrays their claims of doing "whatever necessary" to assist those suffering.

How many more suicides do we need to see before everyone starts to take this seriously? As I write this, I am totally aware that not every First Responder who is suffering, will accept spiritual counsel. However, isn't it our responsibility to offer as many options as possible? A friend of mine is using yoga for those suffering from PTS. I am not a huge fan of yoga but if it helps even one person, I think it is great. If only those on the front lines of helping PTS suffers can look at the spiritual side of things the same way.

Chaplains in the Workplace: Not what you may think they are

One of the world's largest processors and marketers of chicken, beef and pork is a company called Tyson Foods. They are the second-largest food production company in the Fortune 500 and a member of the S&P 500. They also happen to have 120 chaplains working for them and their roughly 115,000 employees. Hope I got your attention!

Workplace Chaplains play a role that no other department can or even wishes, to tackle. Caring for employees and their families in times of crisis is something most businesses seldom if ever think about. For example, the best most can come up with when a death occurs, is send flowers and a nice card. Nothing wrong with that but...

I was the chaplain for a window manufacturing company for a few years. During that time I had situations arise that Human Resources and the Employee Assistance Program had no answers for. Here are just two small examples of how I was able to help as a chaplain:

A young man woke up one morning and started preparing for work but realized his mother who was usually up before him, was still in her room. He knocked on her door but when she didn't answer he opened it and found her lying in her bed. She was dead at a fairly young age and her son was devastated. As the chaplain I was informed by an employee who had been helping this young man with another issue. He had already been under a lot of stress and this was almost too much for him to bear. It took many weeks of listening and encouragement to help him through those days but as the chaplain, I was paid to do just that.

A second scenario involved an older male employee that I had built a good relationship with. One day he advised me that his 20 year-old son had been murdered during a home invasion 10 years earlier. He had been shot in front of the boy's mother, the wife of this employee. The wife had taken it very hard and started taking drugs to ease the pain and by now was addicted to them. The perpetrator had never been arrested and therefore it had become a cold case with the police. I received permission from the employee to phone my contacts at Toronto Police and as a result, the head of Homicide phoned me. He agreed to phone these parents who had not heard back from the police for several years. The head of Homicide (our present Chief of Police) personally phoned them a few days later. This made a huge difference for the employee's wife. Can you imagine HR or an EAP doing any of this?

Add to these, hospital visits, funerals, weddings, referrals for addiction counselling, listening to and helping resolve employee issues within the workplace and even passing along the mood of employees to management. All these are done confidentially and no employee name is ever divulged unless permission is given by the employee.

Some might look at all this and correctly point out that this is not at all what they thought a chaplain would be involved in. Remember also, that these accounts are involving employees that seldom if ever attend church and they involve employees who are often from faith communities other than Christian. For example, as an airport chaplain, one of my friends that I speak to regularly is a devout Muslim. He knows I prayed for him when EMS took him to the hospital one day after he collapsed at the airport. So much is based on building relationships with employees and with that, trust.

I will continue in this series of blogs in a few weeks. Hopefully I can unpack the essence of Workplace Chaplains to the point where some will at least investigate. Next time I will talk about the ROI for a business that uses chaplains.

Why Chaplains?

Preaching? Evangelism? What is your concept of workplace chaplaincy?

"Salt and light" is how Jesus himself describes the role of believers in the world we live in. Sure we can be salt and light to a certain degree within the church but these characteristics are clearly in reference to our lives outside the four walls of what many call the church.

I have personally been "working" as a chaplain for 4 years in the secular world. During that time I have come to the conclusion, rightly or wrongly, that church leaders have very little appreciation for this work. This then filters down to church members who probably aren't even aware that there is such work going on in the marketplace. Let me be clear that we are not talking about police, hospital or military chaplains: we are talking about chaplains in the workplace where companies build windows and cars and where employees have issues that require more than a few days off or a visit to the psychiatrist. The question I have been asking and continue to ask (and one that nobody has the courage to address) is why Christian businessmen refuse to invite this type of chaplaincy into their companies? Along with this: why do pastors ignore such an open door for men and women to be salt and light in a secular world? I think Jesus Christ would ask the same question.

I have worked as a chaplain with a police service. It was a wonderful experience which I hope to do again one day. I did so as a volunteer while I was pastoring. I can now tell everyone that I enjoyed it more than pastoring. I discovered it was my calling in life.

I eventually found myself in a place as I reached the other side of 55, where I needed to reinvent myself or more importantly, I needed the Lord to open doors to fulfill that calling. A man named Cyril Gowler gave me a call out of the blue one day as I was driving through a Tim Hortons drive-through in Milton. He was calling from Edmonton and asked if I would be interested in being a corporate chaplain for a window manufacturing company. I wasn't sure what it would look like but since I was traveling to Alberta a week later, I agreed to meet with him about the opportunity in their Mississauga manufacturing plant. Cyril was the senior chaplain for this company but he was also a chaplain with the RCMP in Edmonton. He had heard about my background as a police chaplain and pastor and a few months later I was a workplace chaplain.

A few years later I was working as a chaplain in a long-term care residence and eventually a second one as well. I was also working as a chaplain with PING Golf through my connection with Marketplace Chaplains Canada. On the side I spent a few hours each week at Toronto Pearson Airport as a chaplain. This is where the Lord has put me for this season in my life and make no mistake about it, it is in the middle of a secular world where Jesus has asked me to be salt and light. I believe people who don't know Jesus are seeing what He asked us to show: Matthew 5:16 says people need to see our good works. You will notice it does not say: and they will hear you preach at them while you carry a big Bible. As we know, most Christians don't have a problem in this area: being salt and light is a challenge at the best of times.

Yet for a chaplain, a door has been opened by the world for us to be a Christian presence in an often messy environment filled with broken marriages, addictions, health problems, family issues, death, weddings and so on. Imagine non-believers coming to Christian chaplains when they need help. Not us forcing our beliefs on anyone but because we are salt and light, those who would never set foot in a church building, are getting counsel from chaplains that have built trust.

So once again I ask the question: why has the church not embraced this work? You will notice I have not used the word "ministry" and I have done so intentionally. In a perfect world, I believe chaplains should be trained in churches the same way we train pastors in seminaries. I believe in fact, that chaplains should be on staff at churches that can afford them: to train believers and not to get paid for proselytizing at work to grow the local church. One of the greatest weaknesses in the church has always been the need to grow the church we call home and with that have terrible motivation for "witnessing" to non-believers. Church growth is one of the biggest hindrances to Kingdom growth.

Let me expand on that point. If church leaders were more interested in the lost than filling their church with new converts, perhaps there would be closer ties between church communities than there is today. Competing for souls is something almost every pastor strives for because job security is fleeting in many denominations. Burn-out among pastors is a very real issue and if that doesn't get you, getting "voted out" is always an option. I would love to see pastors who are frustrated working within a church, get the opportunity to explore the work of a chaplain. I would also love to see church members getting the same opportunity if they are gifted in that area. Too many still believe that pastoring or missionary work are the only options for those who feel called into ministry.

Before anyone (pastors) gets their shorts in a knot, consider this as an opportunity to release your members who have a call to ministry but not as pastors. They do exist!!!

Some may be asking: what are the qualifications for a chaplain? One side of that answer lies in the make-up of the individual. Are you good with people? Are you trustworthy? Are you a person of good character? In other words, is the Fruit of the Spirit evident in your life? It has very little at all to do with your "charisma" in a pulpit. It has very little to do with your ability to "evangelize the lost". If you approach chaplaincy with the idea that you are going to get people saved, you have almost no hope of being a good chaplain. A chaplain walks beside people, not in front of them. In other words, you are a friend who is there to serve regular people when things are going well and then be available when things fall apart. It is part of life and the opportunities to show Jesus will be there all the time. We call it the "ministry of presence".

Education wise, you will certainly require some training. There is one very liberal organization that train from a non-evangelical perspective. Hospitals and prisons often hire folks that have no evangelical background. Unfortunately that may be the result of previous "evangelists" posing as chaplains. Please do not misunderstand what I am saying with this blog. I and other like-minded friends are chaplains because we love Jesus. It is what distinguishes us from chaplains from other faith groups. The training you get will simply help you to understand the role of a chaplain and perhaps more of what you can't do rather than what you can. Proselytizing is never a part of chaplaincy. If you can't accept that fact, you should not be a chaplain. There are many experienced chaplains that could train others if the need was presented.

Germanwings and Confidentiality

The recent crash of a Lufthansa jet has caused many experts to question the aspect of confidentiality when it comes to the mental health of their pilots. As a chaplain I find this a very interesting and necessary discussion and one that has no easy answers.

The co-pilot of this flight that crashed into the French Alps, was by all reports, suffering from depression. He had been to doctors and presumably a psychiatrist as recently as this week. So the question that many are asking is a simple one: why did Lufthansa not know about this man's condition? The Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians, includes a section about confidentiality. These doctors who had been treating this pilot would appear to have taken this oath seriously and not divulged this information to the man's employer. There is speculation that the pilot might have lied about his profession and as such, the doctors had no idea of the danger he potentially posed to others.

For the sake of this argument, let's assume the doctors did know that this man was a pilot, flying 35, 000 feet in the air with as many as 150 passengers. Where does confidentially end and common sense take over?

As a chaplain, one of the most crucial aspects of our profession, is the ability to maintain confidentiality when someone confides in us. In that sense we are no different than physicians. As chaplains however, we make it clear that if we feel the individual confiding in us is a threat to others or himself, we will report it. It is sometimes a difficult decision to make if it may cost someone their job or even worse. As a chaplain I have another recourse and that is to refer the person to a medical professional, before deciding what actions to take. The idea being: more than one opinion.

I have dealt with individuals who seemed to be dealing with depression and found that the situation didn't meet the criteria for clinical depression. Some however, if I felt I could not help effectively, I passed on to someone who could based on their training. In this process however, confidentiality was maintained until it was determined if there was a risk to others. Of course, depression isn't the only condition that needs monitoring in a work place. As a chaplain the range of issues can range from marital problems to addiction to the potential of domestic violence. Each of these can affect the performance of an employee in the workplace and always has the potential of endangering the lives of those around them.

As the life of this pilot becomes clearer, there can be a danger of over reacting. PTSD is an issue that first responders and military personnel struggle with daily. The minute confidentiality is threatened, these individuals will be forced to continue to suffer in silence. All the efforts to make it easier for these folks to get the help they need, will be compromised should confidentiality be removed in the process. To me, common sense needs to come into play. Some will say that depression is easy to recognize but that is certainly not the case unless you are looking for it. There are signs to look for and there are several helpful tips to be found on how to do that. Just google the words "depression test" if you are interested. Be careful with this because symptoms can sometimes be attributed to lack of sleep or something quite harmless.

Lufthansa may very well face huge lawsuits due to this crash but it may depend on what they knew. Is it possible the doctors might be held liable for not informing Lufthansa? This has already caused several airlines who didn't already have the policy, to change protocol and now always have 2 pilots or a pilot and crew member in the cockpit.

PTSD and Chaplains

I have been reading articles and attending conferences over the past few years on the topic of PTSD. I have occasionally sent off letters to those who have organized these conferences and written the articles, with the hope that perhaps one of them will consider my suggestion when it comes to getting help for sufferers of PTSD.

I was a pastor for 14 years and a missionary for 2 years. Since then my attention has turned to chaplaincy and working with those outside the church community. While I was a pastor, I was also a police chaplain for a few years. I did regular ride-alongs in Toronto and have had training in CISM, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills and dealing with Family & Work Violence. As a pastor I dealt with situations where a large family lost their home to fire and where a young child died when the father accidentally caused his death. As a chaplain with the police, I counselled a cop that several years earlier had been the first officer at a call where a fellow officer lay dying: he had never received counselling of any kind 7 years later.

This blog is not intended to point fingers at anyone but my hope is that someone who has the ability to make things happen, will seriously consider my thoughts.

First Responders deal with horrific scenes on a regular basis but the accumulation of these events, sometimes just one or two, are known to cause PTSD. I am not an expert on the subject so that is not the angle that I am writing from. My thoughts centre around those suffering from PTSD in silence, that are afraid to seek out help. The question that I am asking is simple: are the experts really doing everything they can to help?

Although things have gradually improved in upper management, there is still the battle that rages throughout the ranks of first responders. There is still a stigma attached despite the best efforts of organizations like Tema Conter: the lingering thought of how one will be perceived if they reveal a struggle with PTSD?

Most would agree that every and any tool should be used to help these men and women and yet there is a hesitation when it comes to the spiritual side of things. Psychologists and peer counselling are vital to the recovery process but how do we get these individuals to that stage? I believe the issue of confidentiality plays a huge role in this process but I also believe the Employee Assistance Program can't be the only resource being utilized. Having worked with cops, I know that there is still a distrust associated with most EAP's. It may very well be totally unfounded but it remains. In my opinion there needs to be a buffer or a conduit between the first responder and the professional help they need. This is where I believe chaplains need to be equipped to serve in a more meaningful way than is offered today in most Police, Fire and EMS stations.

Confidentiality is the basis of chaplaincy. The idea being that a first responder should be able to approach any chaplain with any issue they face in life, including PTSD, and not fear that management will find out. With EAP, that is not always a guarantee, at least in the eyes of those seeking help. Whether you agree with this assessment or not is not the point: if it is even a possibility, what is management doing to deal with it? What is the EAP doing to make it easier for those suffering from PTSD to come to them?

Let me put some meat on these bones that I have thrown out there. The role of a chaplain has often been more ceremonial than anything else. They pray at graduations and retirement parties and do the occasional ride-along. There may be one chaplain for a service of 500 men and women and then a few "multi-faith" chaplains that seldom build relationships and trust with those they "chaplain". However, what if these various services hired several chaplains for first responders. They can even be volunteer chaplains but men and women that would be given access to first responders on a daily basis. These chaplains would need to be better trained to identify PTSD but more importantly, they need to be chaplains and not preachers. It is about building trust so those suffering from PTSD or other issues, feel totally safe approaching the chaplain.

This is where the process begins but does not end.

It would be made very clear to all first responders that management will never be told individual names of those seeking help. Management would receive regular reports that indicate numbers only, but no names. This would alleviate two potential problems: the first responder will be directed to the EAP or other agency and management will have numbers to justify the continued assistance and confidentiality provided to first responders.

I believe this should be made available to past and present members of any service. We know that there are many men and women suffering from PTSD that have retired. They should obviously not be forgotten should they reach out for help.

Again, I am not an expert on PTSD but I do believe this is a tool that is not being used properly today. I hope that the right people read this and that action is taken.