Thursday, July 24, 2008 8:10 PM CDT
Training for chaplains to help serve Coles County to be offered soon
BY DAWN SCHABBING, Features Writer
dschabbing@jg-tc.com
There are lots of times when we just need someone to listen.
And some people believe they were called by God to listen, inspire, calm and help the hurting, all with confidentiality. In secular settings these people are called chaplains.
The International Fellowship of Chaplains Inc. is a non-profit group that helps train volunteer chaplains to work in a variety of settings.
Susan Westfall of Charleston, a senior chaplain with IFOC, is hopeful that an upcoming training session planned Aug. 18-22 in Charleston will help fill the need for chaplains across Coles County.
The training will be held at the Salisbury Church in Charleston. There is a $295 registration fee. The pre-registration deadline is Aug. 8.
For brochures and more information about the 48-hour intense training, visit the church or go online to www.IFOC.org.
“We want to develop a Chaplaincy Corps in Coles County. We want to serve those who serve our community,” Westfall said.
Westfall said duties of a chaplain fall in a variety of settings, including at the scene of a fire, working with police, at a hospital, in an industrial setting, with youth, in nursing homes, detention centers and many more.
“Dealing with the victims and/or their families also frees the professionals to do their jobs better. In a suicide attempt, I can comfort other family members, while the police, fire, medic personnel deal with the person in trouble,” Westfall said. “In a domestic, I can deal with the children, the neighbors, or the person who called in the emergency.”
The chaplain also makes death notifications.
Westfall works full time as the director of operations with Serve India Ministries, an organization that she helped start in 2006. She trained with the IFOC and was ordained in August 2007.
As a volunteer chaplain, Westfall works with the Charleston Police, Eastern Illinois University Police and Charleston Fire Department.
Mark Jenkins, Charleston police chief, said the department started utilizing chaplains about two years ago, as a ministry to the police officers and their families.
“We had a couple of instances involving police officers (in the area) who had committed suicide. Officers typically won’t reach out to conventional mental health counseling,” Jenkins said.
But, both Westfall and Chaplain Bill Phillips, who is also a pastor at the Church of God in Charleston, have built a link of trust with the officers and their families.
“They are there for the families. They help take care of the families, pray with them, make sure they have a hotel if needed to stay in, and this helps us, so we can do our work,” Jenkins said.
Chaplaincy training involves dealing with trauma, critical incident stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, divorce, substance abuse, suicide, grief and loss, and death notifications.
“In any secular setting, a chaplain can offer a wide-variety of things. Spiritually, chaplains can organize worship services, prayer meetings and Bible studies. They can provide religious assistance and counseling for employees of large corporations,” Westfall said.
Chaplains can be available for listening, for directing to available resources, provide pastoral counseling in marriage, depression, anxiety, family concerns, sexual concerns, vocational crisis, bereavement and substance abuse.
Jenkins said he still considers the program to be in the infant stages.
“It’s been wonderful. We are always looking for chaplains that want to help. We want to be prepared. You never know what could happen,” he said.
For more information call Westfall, 549-0285.
Contact Dawn Schabbing at dschabbing@jg-tc.com or 238-6864.
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