[1]ATLANTA (BP)??Twenty?eight chaplains were endorsed by the North American Mission Board Sept. 14, bringing the total number of Southern Baptist chaplains to 2,518, serving in 27 countries and all states and territories of the United States. The service was held at First Baptist Church, Peachtree City in suburban Atlanta.
The North American Mission Board, which officially began work in June, was formed by combining the Home Mission Board, Brotherhood Commission and Radio and Television Commission in the SBC’s “Covenant for a New Century” restructuring. The chaplaincy program formerly was a ministry of the Home Mission Board.
“I have learned not to tell God things I will never do,” said Maurice DeFoor, a new chaplain serving the South Carolina department of corrections at Allentown Correctional Institution in Ulmer. “I told God I would never be a prison chaplain, but here I am.”
First Lt. Paige Heard, an army chaplain serving in Ft. Hood, Texas, echoed DeFoor’s sentiment. “God will call you to a place where you aren’t comfortable. I get airsick, and I’m serving a helicopter battalion.”
In addition to institutions and the military, chaplains serve in health?care and pastoral counseling roles as well as business and industrial settings.
“Chaplains minister through their presence,” said George Pickle, chaplaincy associate for health?care and pastoral counseling at NAMB. “They bring the presence of Christ to the trauma, drama and celebration of life.”
For more information on the chaplaincy program, contact the NAMB ministry evangelism office at (770) 410?6492.