Beyond the
Badge
| May 2019 | Real Hero Report
“Can you meet with a trooper?” was all the text said. I
responded and spent the next morning with a trooper who
person who died that day on I-16, it was six.* We concluded our
time together in a “holy moment” as I held the bag containing the
cell phones of the crash victims and prayed for this trooper, the
young people, their families and all involved.
That moment is imprinted on my mind forever–as are all the
other memories gathered over 40 plus years of law enforcement
chaplaincy and ministry. As a ministry, we go wherever we
responders know that we chaplains have their backs.
After 40 years of pastoring in local churches and serving
law enforcement departments as a volunteer, I founded Caring
Connection Chaplaincy in 2009 as my platform to serve law
enforcement. Serving in this capacity has provided an incredible
opportunity to raise awareness for our public servants and to
give people an avenue to provide support to law enforcement
personnel through us, as a 501(c)(3) organization. We are also an
Advance Mission Special for the South Georgia Conference of
the United Methodist Church, which means that every year our
The mission statement for our organization is: “Caring
Connection Chaplaincy is passionate about serving and
ministering to departments of public safety, their families, and
the people they encounter and serve in the line of duty.” The
recipients of our services include law enforcement personnel,
The law enforcement community is a tight-knit family with its
own unique set of gifts and challenges. When a parent, spouse
or partner serves in law enforcement, their family serves with
them. Our organization strives to build relationships between law
enforcement, local churches and other organizations to provide
spiritual support and a ministry of presence to law enforcement
personnel and their families.
A proud cornerstone of our ministry is our “Beyond the Badge”
program. Through this ministry, we provide spiritual support
needed to maintain a healthy spiritual and emotional well-being,
travels to Georgia law enforcement training centers to worship
with cadets who are beginning their law enforcement service.
Following worship, the team talks with cadets about the
importance of prioritizing spiritual self-care, shared from the
present each cadet with the spiritual self-care guide Beyond
the Badge and devotion book, Strength for Service to God and
Community.
Our team frequently partners with local churches to host law
enforcement recognition Sundays, where we reach out to local
law enforcement to share in a time of worship and provide the
spiritual guides and other resources.
One of our most powerful opportunities to serve often presents
itself through the International Conference of Police Chaplains.
We are the chaplaincy representative for Georgia, and through this
ministry, we minister to law enforcement agencies and families at
Death (LODD), we travel across Georgia or into North Florida
of prayer with the family who lost a loved one, and with the
department who lost one of their own.
responders and military, active and retired as we travel across
Georgia and have opportunities to individually thank those with
whom we come in contact, thanking them for their service, and
hopefully reminding each of them that we who are called to be
Chaplains “have had their backs” across countless years and
miles.
Last, it would not be possible to perform this ministry without
all the support from churches, individuals, and businesses across
the state of Georgia. Thank you for all that you do to enable what
we do.