Petaluma Christian Church » petaluma police

What Does A Chaplain Do?

pastor — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:19:41 +0000

I’ve now been trained and have served my first week as Primary chaplain for the Petaluma Police and Fire Departments. I had a call-out that week and mentioned it to several folks who had questions about what the chaplaincy is all about. So, I thought I would take the opportunity to an-swer in the newsletter:

1) What happens if the pager goes off during a worship service?

No problem. If it goes off on my next turn as primary, I’ll take the next opportunity in the service to phone the police department and ask them to page the secondary (there are several pastors who don’t have services on Sunday morning who are available). Or, if it’s close to the end, I’ll let them know I’m coming in 10 or 15 minutes.

2) What exactly do Peta luma Police Chaplains do?

We serve the Police and Fire Departments and the hospital by helping them during times of crisis.

This includes going to the hospital emergency room when a patient has died or is dying and the family needs care (probably the most common occurrence).

We may also be called to a home or to the scene of an accident to help family or other bystanders who have been emotionally impacted from the event. This could be a car crash, a suicide or even a major disaster. We stay at the scene until the Coroner arrives so that the police or fire personnel are freed up to do their jobs. We also do death notifications.

Probably, most of you don’t know about the Chaplaincy because you’ve never needed it services, and that’s a good thing!

3) How much do Chaplains get paid?

In this case, nothing. It’s a volunteer service that about 10 pastors perform for the city. We are official representatives of the City of Petaluma and are trained in our duties, but like God’s grace — it’s all free!

Rejoicing with you in the opportunities to serve God in our city,

Pastor Bill Linton

I Am Resolved

pastor — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:00:06 +0000

What is your resolution for 2009? Many people donʼt even have one, and thatʼs OK. Having a New Yearʼs Resolution is certainly not something the Bible tells us to do. Nevertheless, itʼs always good to remember to be more like Christ, and if a resolution helps keep that at the front of our minds, thatʼs a worthy thing (as long as we remember that it is God who is at work in us to produce Christ-likeness — Philippians 2:12-13).

Let me mention two of my resolutions:

1.) For 2008, my resolution was to pray for all the families of our members every week. And even though I missed it three or four times, I want you to know that I have prayed for all of you on a weekly basis.

This year, I want to up the ante a little bit. My resolution for 2009 is not only to pray for you weekly, but also to give you a phone call on a regular basis (probably once every three months or so) to inquire about how you and your family are doing spiritually, so I can pray for you more intelligently. So, expect a phone call from me every once in a while. If I leave a message, please call back. My desire is to be of greater service to you in your journey of faith. Allow me do that and weʼll both be blessed (Hebrews 13:17).

2) Iʼm also resolving to pray for opportunities to share Jesus with people one on one. I tend to interact mostly with church people, so Iʼm asking God to put more people in my life (or at least for me to recognize it when He does). One way Iʼm looking forward to this is in my new role as Petaluma Police Chaplain, which will start sometime this year.

But Iʼm also praying for the person I wrote down on the card. I hope youʼre doing the same as we work together to help people ﬁnd Jesus in 2009. What a great year weʼll have as we share our faith in our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! May we be a great blessing to the kingdom of God!

— Loving you in the Lord,

Pastor Bill Linton