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Chaplains Are Blessing To Community

For a Police Chaplain in Rockford, the calls come anytime. It could be 11 p.m., the middle of the day, or before the dawn breaks.
 

By the time you read the papers, the chaplain is home, the incident is resolved -- or on the way to being resolved -- and the family begins the long and painful journey of grief.

In Rockford, it is a chaplain who brings bad news to unsuspecting members of the community; a chaplain who will sit quietly while the reality of death enters their otherwise peaceful world.

Chaplains support and encourage the hearts of First Responders who put their lives on the line every day. They wait for the fire or the crime and then insert themselves between the event and the citizens. They protect, rescue and serve us all.

The news that chaplains bring can shatter families and break hearts. People ask, “How do you do this work?” Here is the answer: Chaplains believe they are called into the Ministry of Presence, putting everything aside to stand with whomever we are called to serve.

The motto on the new chaplain’s patch is “bringing light in the darkness.” This is what chaplains do: bring light in moments when people believe there will never be light again.

At the end of the day, without fanfare, chaplains return to their church. With gentle humor and generosity, they rest and are ready for the next day.

Rockford is so blessed by their spirits.

I’m Lou Ness, and that’s my perspective.

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