A patient is in their hospital bed. Their family is around. The machines have all been turned off. A soul is about to pass from this world to the next.

A senior military leader is about to make a decision that will determine if the mission succeeds and if the leader’s troops will perish. The pure weight of this decision will follow the leader for the rest of the leader’s life.

A prisoner has been incarcerated for several years. They have recently started to attend church services at the prison and are on the verge of making a decision about faith.

Closed communities. Sacred spaces. Places where a select few are allowed to go. Moments where life and death, past and future are all hanging in the present. These are the spaces where chaplains exist and are needed.

While these spaces and places are vitally important, they are often overlooked by the greater church body.

“Since this specialty ministry takes place beyond the structure and eyes of the church, little is written about it in church publications,” E. Dean Cook explained. “Chaplains, out of respect for confidentiality and the institutions they serve, traditionally have not written a great deal about their work, except in professional magazines. All of this has led to a serious gap in the church’s understanding and awareness of this ministry.”[1]

Think of your conference. How many chaplains are elders within that conference? Do you know? Did you have to look it up in the Yearbook? Have you talked with those chaplains about the unique community they serve?

In most of Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus is addressing the disciples on the Mount of Olives. He provides a few parables and lessons about the coming days. Then, in Chapter 25, he starts to describe the Judgment:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” (v.34–40 NIV)

This passage is one of the primary scriptural references for the basis of chaplain ministry. People in need often do not seek out help, requiring those who serve Christ to go to them. Chaplains go where there is need, standing in the gap with those who would not otherwise receive help from the church. In my personal experience, many of the warriors I serve would never walk through the doors of a church. In fact, coming to talk to the chaplain is their answer when everything else has failed. They know that they need something: confidential counseling, sound advice, a person to listen to their struggles, but they don’t know what that need is. Chaplaincy is truly an incarnational ministry, where you often live, work with, rub shoulders with, and eat with those you serve.

“The roots of Free Methodist Chaplaincy can be traced back to World War II and the nation’s urgent call for chaplains to minister to our troops.”[2] There were several young clergy members from our denomination who served during the Second World War, having impacts across multiple continents and aspects of that war. Since that time, Free Methodist chaplains have served in a variety of positions and ministry spaces. Hospital, hospice, law enforcement, prisons and jails, the military, retirement communities, sports teams, colleges and universities. Chaplains in all of these different places have three primary things in common.

 Calling

Calling is one of the most, if not the most, pivotal parts of chaplaincy. Serving in these closed communities is seldom easy and requires a special type of calling. Os Guinness tells us, “Our passion is to know that we are fulfilling the purpose for which we are here on earth.”[3]

No one person’s calling to chaplaincy looks exactly like another’s. My call to chaplaincy came, to paraphrase J.R.R. Tolkien, from the most unlikely of people. I was working nights at UPS after graduating from college. I had graduated with a degree in ministry focused on worship arts. Unfortunately, I graduated in 2009, right in the middle of a recession.

To help provide for my family, I was a stay-at-home dad during the day, and loaded trucks at UPS in the evenings. After working there for a few months, and getting to know my co-workers, one who had previously served in the Marine Corps asked me if I had ever thought about being a military chaplain. I politely told him, “No,” that I had just finished my bachelor’s degree and didn’t want to go back to school and that I was happy to work with youth or lead worship but didn’t think that being in charge of what I perceived to be a bigger responsibility was something I aspired to. However, as I thought, prayed, and asked my mentors about this, it became apparent that God was calling me to this unique ministry.

“To be called by God is to be one who has heard and answered the call that God makes,” according to Carey H. Cash. “In the end, not all men respond to that call. But for those who do, nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate them from God’s providential plan working out in their lives.”^[4]

Like Jonah, I was being called to what was to me a foreign land. Within a few months, I had enrolled in seminary and started the process of joining the U.S. Army Reserve as a chaplain candidate.

 Preparation

The next important step in becoming a chaplain is preparation. The requirements for every type of chaplaincy vary to some degree. Almost all require an endorsement from a denominational endorsing agent (for Free Methodists, this is currently Tim Porter). Candidates for this are often presented to whichever current bishop oversees our chaplain ministries (currently Bishop Keith Cowart). Both also usually require ordination as an elder within your current conference. According to Richard M. Budd, “Traditionally the triumvirate of occupations accorded professional status in America has included ministry, which is the eldest, plus law and medicine.”[5]

Some forms of chaplaincy require an M.Div. or equivalent seminary degree, the military being one of these. Many hospital and hospice chaplain settings require Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), which can be earned either through a residency or through individual credits. Other chaplain settings may require still other accreditations or trainings to serve that community.

 Opportunity

Once a person has discerned a calling and done the necessary preparation, that person is able to seize the opportunities provided by all the work they have put in. Very few ministry settings have opened opportunities to see large change happen like chaplaincy. In my current assignment of working with basic trainees, I have been able to work with multiple trainees who have accepted Christ, baptized over 200 of them, and worked with many drill sergeants and other cadre members as they struggle through difficult life situations. 

If you think that exploring a call into chaplaincy could be a part of your future, reach out to FMCUSA Co-Directors of Chaplain Ministries Tim (timothy.porter@myfmconnect.org) or Patricia (patricia.porter@myfmconnect.org) Porter.

Chaplain Captain Andy Baird is an ordained elder in the North Michigan Conference of the Free Methodist Church and is currently stationed at Fort Moore, Georgia. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in ministry from Central Christian College of Kansas and a Master of Divinity degree from George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and he is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry degree from Wesley Theological Seminary. He and Allison have four children, who constantly keep life moving. They enjoy spending time with their family, and (when able) doing things without kids.

[1] E. Dean Cook, Chaplaincy: Being God’s Presence in Close Communities (Bloomington, IN, AuthorHouse, 2010), xi-xii.

[2] Ibid, 9.

[3] Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life (Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 2003), 1.

[4] Carey H. Cash, Table in the Presence: The Dramatic Account of How a U.S. Marine Battalion Experienced God’s Presence Amidst the Chaos of The War in Iraq (Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 2009), 41.

[5] Richard M. Budd, Serving Two Masters: The Development of American Military Chaplaincy, 1860-1920, (Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska, 2002), 3.

Nearly 300 churches applied this year for a Kingdom Advancing Grant, which the Brotherhood Mutual Foundation awards to church programs that impact their communities and spread the gospel in unconventional and creative ways. When the foundation recently announced the nine recipients of the 2024 grants, Crosspoint Free Methodist Church in Hilton, New York, made the list with a $5,000 grant for its Aslan’s Explorers program. 

Crosspoint Pastor Darlene Simpson described the program as “an incredible journey through Narnia and imagination to equip children with real life skills. Aslan’s Explorers exists to teach boys and girls that their true identity  is found in Jesus.” 

Students from kindergarten through sixth grade can enroll in Aslan’s Explorers, and each year of the program is based on one of the books in “The Chronicles of Narnia” series by beloved author C.S. Lewis. Students learn the four Narnian virtues: Be brave. Be faithful. Be humble. Be kind. They also learn these core truths: I am known. I am forgiven. I am made for community. I am never alone. I am set apart. I am here to share Jesus. I am uniquely designed. I am designed for a purpose.  

“The grant will help us to further develop curriculum, create the environment of Narnia, and allow us to provide an experience that can be multiplied to children everywhere,” Simpson said. “On a personal note, my 6-year-old and 4-year-old grandchildren have already memorized Scripture verses, which will be held in their hearts for their lifetime. My granddaughter loves to tell others what she has learned at Aslan’s. We are excited to see thousands of little ones discover and live the virtues they learn in Aslan’s Explorers.” 

Simpson launched the program with Rob Dickerson, the pastor of LifeQuest Community Church that meets at Crosspoint’s building and cooperates in ministry with the motto “2 Churches – 1 Location: Better Together.” Dickerson said the program launched in January with original curriculum, but it is now an October to May discipleship ministry. 

Dickerson applied for the grant after receiving an email about the program and then discussed it with his Brotherhood Mutual insurance agent who is also an artist creating illustrations for Aslan’s Explorers.  

“The application for it was not difficult at all. The website that they created was fairly straightforward to navigate,” Dickerson said. “The hardest part was figuring out what information they wanted from us so that we could give it to them.” 

Innovative, Evangelistic, Replicable 

Kathy Bruce, director of the Brotherhood Mutual Foundation, said the foundation is funded by a percentage of Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Co. premiums that are paid by churches and related ministries, “and so through our foundation, we’re focused on giving back to Christian churches. … There are many grants available to nonprofit and faith-based nonprofits, but this particular grant is limited to churches.”  

Bruce emphasized that the grant program has three key pillars.  

“No. 1, it needs to be very innovative. It’s not something that others are doing down the street. It’s a very new and different idea,” Bruce said. “The second pillar is that it has a well-defined path to lead people to Jesus.” 

The final “pillar is replicability, because our whole goal in this is to see if we can give these initiatives visibility so that others might consider trying them in their ministries.” 

Ministry Mentoring 

Bruce noted that the program includes a granting council with ministry leaders from across the country. 

“The beauty of this grant is those council members commit to mentoring, coaching, encouraging, and praying for the grant recipients, and they meet with them once a month on a Zoom call for just about a year,” Bruce said. “Somewhere in that year, they go to visit that site personally and try to build that relationship. The follow-up after that year becomes more of a friendship.” 

Dickerson said a large church in Kansas City is partnering with Aslan’s Explorers to provide guidance in curriculum development and wise use of the grant money.  

The Kingdom Advancing Grant is awarded annually. The 2025 grant application cycle begins Jan. 6 and ends March 31. More information is available at brotherhoodmutual.com/kingdom-advancing-grant. 

I have a love-hate relationship with cooking. It’s so much easier to make an order and wait for someone else to cook it up and serve me, because cooking takes time, work, and practice. Raising up Spirit-fueled leaders is the same way. It is so much easier to tell people what I want and wait for them to do it. But developing leaders requires preparation — time, work, and practice. If we want a new generation of leaders, we are going to have to start cooking more and ordering less.  

First of all, let me give you the ingredients for church leadership. One of my favorite meals is a rice bowl from Qdoba, and, in my world, we have a meal from there at least once a week. Here are the must-haves of a good rice bowl and great churches: 

First a protein. This is like discipleship. Discipling someone provides the means to strengthen the leader in whom you are investing. Second is rice or starch or grain. I like to compare this to outreach where just as starch fuels our energy and ability to keep going, outreach continues to fuel our movement. Third is a liquid (oil, broth, water, or milk). This seeps into every corner of the dish and also provides refreshment. I liken this to community. Fellowship and community connections are refreshing and permeate us with positive influences like liquid.  

Next are the veggies. I compare this to administration. Veggies provide necessary vitamins and roughage to keep things moving, and so does administration. (Yes, I said that.) And fifth and finally, we need some spice. This ingredient is like prayer and worship in the development of leaders. Now some of you only use salt and pepper — but I’ve discovered that the Holy Spirit likes to provide secret sauces from time to time. This makes a complete dish and complete leaders. We need leaders gifted in these different areas and leaders valuing and participating in these areas.  

Now let’s move to the recipe and actions, because you don’t just set the ingredients on the counter in your kitchen and expect them to magically come together to make a tasty meal. Some of you have been ordering your meals all your life and are just now having an aha moment: “I have to do something with those groceries I paid for?” Yes, you do! Good cooking and good leadership development require us to get in the kitchen and start working.  

Meal prep include recipes, chopping, dicing, shredding, and then the actual cooking, which involves knowing what ingredients to add when and how to cook them well. Of course, there is taste-testing along the way! In leadership development, the preparation skills include example, explanation, and experimenting or exploring.  

Example 

First, you must resolve to be the example to the up-and-coming leader. And you do that both in your character and your actions. “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 MEV). You need to make space for the person to have a relationship with you so they can see up close who you are and what you do. You’ve got to provide the new leader time with you. Do you have time built into your schedule to be with new leaders? That together time follows a pattern:  

• I do; you watch.  

• I do; you help. 

• You do; I help. 

• You do; I watch. 

Asking questions along the way is essential. Do they understand what you’re doing and why? Are they able to apply the principles to their own voice, approach, and leadership style? Are you checking in with them to evaluate their progress? Take time to reflect together and really listen to them. Ask, “How did that go? How are you feeling? Where was that tricky? Could that have gone a different way?” Also don’t forget to celebrate together all the ways your disciple is growing and leading!  

Being an example is all about being face-to-face. When my kids were young, one of my pet peeves was when one of the kids would yell at me from another room. We sat down one day, and I said, “New family rule: We don’t yell from room to room. We talk face-to-face.” And from that time on, if one of them would yell, I’d yell back, “Face-to-face.” It slowed them down, eliminated my frustration, and reminded us to see each other as people not things to be ordered around. Relationships happen face-to-face. Remember, Jesus spent a lot of face-to-face time with His 12 disciples.  

Explanation 

The second part of preparing Spirit-fueled leaders is explanation. Jesus taught many principles over and over again, and Paul wrote follow-up letters of explanation to the churches. We also need to explain what we are doing and why we are doing it. Never assume that people know and understand what you know and understand. Don’t assume that people practice what they know and understand. Or know how to practice. If we only explain what we are doing, we develop followers. When we explain why we are doing it, we are training leaders. When we know why it is important to have all the elements, we can take responsibility for making our own recipe. We are also more careful to include all of the components of a great recipe, not leaving anything out — no shortcuts.  

Explanation is clear, intentional, and educational. Explanation can come from many sources: directly from you, someone else who’s good at that particular part of their development, or basic education from books or classes. As you walk through the process of the up-and-coming leader watching, helping, and leading, it is important to have conversations for feedback.  

Those conversations should include: 

• Affirmation. “Wow, you did that really well.” “I appreciate the way you…” “I love how you said…” “That was so powerful, so well said.” “I never would have thought of that!”  

• Corrective. “Another way to do that could be…” “It seems like you lost people at this point; let’s brainstorm different ways to do that.” “Here’s a resource to help with this.” 

• Confirmation. “You love God and others so well. I see it.” “You have a natural way of connecting with young people.” “I see the ways God is working through you.”  

Don’t forget to model this learning. Are you still being trained? Are you still growing? What have you read this year? What training have you attended? If you are “past learning,” then you must be perfect. And I’m going to be the one to break it to you: You are not perfect. Don’t expect others to be open to growing and training if you’re not modeling it. 

Experiment/Explore 

I learned to experiment and explore most clearly during COVID lockdowns. It didn’t take me long to realize that we as a church were stuck in one way of doing things, and yet we weren’t allowed to do things in that way. So as a staff team, we put on our thinking hats and said, “We still think these ingredients are the most important, so is there any other way we could do them?” And guess what? There were! And we found things that worked for us!  

Let a new leader experiment with how they do their one part, their one event, their one ministry. Don’t insist that they do it the way you would do it. And, by the way, this is another way for you to set the example. When’s the last time you experimented? Because let’s face it, even the very best dish gets old if you are eating it three times a day, seven days a week. Here’s how you can set leaders free to experiment and explore:  

• Give them the guidelines to help them dream. 

• Be open to change — they might think of something you’ve never thought about! 

• Assure them that you are fine with taking the risk. That includes being fine when it doesn’t work. Clearly explain that you expect some things not to work. The important thing is reflecting on what didn’t work and why, and being willing to get back up and try something new.  

Another thing that may help is to set an ending date or deadline for an experiment. “Let’s try this for eight weeks and then check back.” Or, “You will be in charge of this for three months, and if you get done and realize it is not for you, that’s fine.” This is how we find what works and what works for who.  

Which leads to my last point in preparing new leaders: 

Expectations 

Clearly define your expectations because clarity is kindness. Discuss and agree upon goals and objectives, and then hold each other accountable to those goals and objectives. Remember that people are human and will make mistakes. People will excel at some things and struggle with others. People will, at times, sin. Jesus dealt with sin in the development of His disciples and so will you. Even if people walk away from the development process, don’t give up. Pray for the next person to develop and pour into.  

There will also be differences of opinion along the way. Some ideas will not work, and some people will not work out. There are some recipes we like while others we dislike. Our church is multicultural, so I remind our congregation that being multicultural means that there will likely be at least one thing in the service you will not like. Can we have grace for that?  

Finally, be prepared for happy surprises. You never know when something new will sprout up from your development with a new leader. Enjoy the journey and celebrate unexpected good.  

Preparing new leaders is what we’re called to and is essential for us to ignite a Spirit-fueled movement. The big question is: Who are you pouring into? If the answer is “no one at this time,” then begin to pray for God to bring you a person to invest in. Then open your eyes, and prepare to start cooking.  

Joanna DeWolf is a superintendent of the East Michigan Conference and the lead pastor of Lansing Central Free Methodist Church. She’s particularly good at baking chocolate chip cookies.  

If you suspect a member of your church is being abused by a family member, how do you respond? What if someone comes to you for counseling and asks whether it’s OK to leave a violent spouse? What if you’re counseling someone who has escaped domestic violence but is still struggling to find emotional and spiritual healing? 

Light + Life Publishing’s new book, “Love Does No Harm,” belongs in the library of every pastor. Co-authors Judi Noble and Susi Limon have each experienced the freedom of life beyond domestic violence. Now they are helping others find hope and healing through the new book — a vital resource for pastors and Christian counselors as well as a life-giving curriculum for people trapped in domestic violence.  

“It’s my passion to see generational, spiritual, emotional, physical abuse stopped, and that can only be done if we get the word out about what domestic violence really is and how it affects our generations. Does it affect our children and our children’s children?” said lead author Noble, the founder and president of Eagle’s Wings Ministries in Upland, California, on a new episode of The Light + Life Podcast. “If we can stop domestic violence in our generation, then we can definitely stop it in the next.”  

When people in the church experience domestic violence, they may turn to a pastor for help. Noble advised pastors, “If you have a woman or a man come in and say, ‘I’m being abused,’ know that took the most incredible courage for them to come in and share that with you. … Hear them, listen to them, and believe them. … Believe them over and above what you think you know about their mate.” 

A sense of shame and fear may keep a church member from sharing about an abusive partner, especially a spouse in the same church whom the member may feel like she or he is betraying. If the pastor doesn’t listen and believe the person, then it makes the abuse worse because most people only share about part of the domestic violence they have experienced. A pastor also should be cautious with counseling to avoid using the same approach as with other couples who have relationship problems. 

“One more thing that I saw countless times be very damaging — especially to the woman — is if they tried to counsel the man and the woman — the abuser and the woman — together,” Noble said. “It just had horrific outcomes, because she couldn’t be honest, and if she was, then after the counseling session ended, she would unfortunately be re-abused.” 

Noble said she wants “to see Jesus involved in every broken heart and that He would heal them,” and Eagle’s Wings began out of her own journey with domestic violence and her desire to prevent other women from experiencing similar pain.  

“I was in an abusive relationship with my husband for several years, and it was fairly violent,” Noble said. “In that process, I thought, ‘How can I reach other women? What is God’s heart? What does He want to do in this particular very confusing, conflicting issue?’” 

The organization’s name was inspired by her life verse, Isaiah 40:31, and an experience on a trip to Alaska with the friend who led her to Christ. Noble lay on the Kenai River sand and saw “two eagles fly together, and the Lord said, ‘Those who hope and wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They’ll mount up like wings on eagles. They’ll run and not be weary and walk and not faint.’” 

As she watched the two eagles, she understood them to “represent what God wanted to do with so many women and men that were limping along, and He wanted to rise them up and give them strength and healing.” 

Living Free in Christ 

Noble wrote the book with Limon, the Eagle’s Wings associate director who serves on the mentor team and facilitates “Love Does No Harm” support groups for women.  

Limon believes the Holy Spirit supernaturally “led me to Eagle’s Wings and, once I became a mentor, started leading women’s groups and just saw how the curriculum was so effective. I was very excited to add what the Lord had taught me through my journey to what Judi was already working on, and so we collaborated.” 

Her mentoring and writing draw upon her firsthand experience of abuse and the challenge of seeking help.  

“I was married for over 10 years, and my husband at the time had a very respectable position in the community,” Limon said. “I finally got to a place where I was crying out to God, and I was very confused about just what domestic violence was. … I felt stuck for a long time, and finally the Lord made it very clear that was not His destiny for me. I was not living free in Christ. I was in bondage, and I believe that He wanted to set me free. Through my recovery, He showed me what real love is, and it does no harm.” 

Her recovery also led to spiritual growth.  

“My own experience with domestic violence led me to a deeper relationship with the Lord,” Limon said. “Through my healing process, as I started to discover my own identity or my true identity in Him, I just felt that He was changing my passion from being an artist to now using my gifts to help other people that were hurting from domestic violence.” 

Defining and Understanding Domestic Violence  

The “Love Does No Harm” book helps people understand what domestic violence is.  

On the podcast, Noble explained, “Domestic violence is a repeated, deliberate act against an intimate partner. … It’s a deliberate, abusive, violent act against someone that they’re supposed to love.” 

Most domestic violence occurs covertly and goes unreported. 

“If they’re not being hit, that makes a huge difference for them. They probably won’t even call us because that’s what they think domestic violence is. However, there’s so much more to it,” Noble said. “Once we begin to explain to them that it’s not actually just hitting — that emotional and tormental abuse is so much harder on their hearts than physical [abuse]. The scars are left on their heart.” 

Noble added that domestic violence usually escalates. If a person is experiencing abuse but not being hit, physical abuse is likely to come later.  

“It’s a confusing subject, and it’s different for everybody,” Noble said. “But the wonderful thing is that we stand for what Jesus stands for. He wants to come and heal the brokenhearted and take the confusion out, and He told me in the beginning, ‘You hold their hand until they’re ready to grab Mine,’ and that’s what Susi and I have done. … When we give out love to them, they can see His love.” 

The book includes “10 sessions, and we start with just talking about what domestic violence is, the signs of an abusive relationship, red flags, the different types of abuse, understanding the cycle of violence and the effects,” Limon said. “Every session starts off with Scripture, and we’re talking about the Lord in and through each topic.” 

Limon said “Love Does No Harm” helps people who have experienced violence to “discover their true identity in Christ, because that’s going to make all the difference as they start believing who they are, then they’re going to open up to His healing power. And it’s really the Holy Spirit that’s going to guide them through these sessions.” 

Some sessions address issues such as boundaries and codependency, which Limon said “is really important for us to understand, because a lot of us, when we’re in abusive relationships, we have learned codependent behaviors that keep us stuck in those relationships, and we confuse love with this codependency behavior.” 

Click here to listen to the podcast.  

Click here to order the book “Love Does No Harm.” 

Click here for the e-book version.  

For more information, call Judi Noble and Susi Limon at Eagle’s Wings Ministries at 909-529-3373 or contact them via their website at eagleswingsglobal.org/contact/.