President's Blog

We have a growing group of ministry workers representing our Fellowship in the marketplace. In 2013 we had 27 Fellowship chaplains; today we have over 120. More than half are “volunteer” Fellowship chaplains who give several hours each week to the “ministry of presence”. These amazing Fellowship chaplains are pastors and other men and women from our churches who serve in senior’s homes, hospitals, prisons, truck stops, military bases, airports, food banks, sport teams, community centres, media outlets, among first responders, and other places.

I get a chance to hear some of their stories each month in our chaplain zoom gatherings. In this blog, I want to introduce you to a few of our amazing volunteer chaplains.

Introducing Al Litchfield

"It has been my privilege to serve as chaplain for the Stirling Fire Department located in Stirling, AB. Our firehall is manned by 20-25 unpaid volunteers. One of my main responsibilities as chaplain is to provide assistance in the area of critical incident stress management (CISM). This is an ongoing ministry, which involves being available following incidents to debrief and assist in the process to normalize reactions. In order to build trust and familiarity, I attend the weekly training nights and I have assisted in training classes and events, and I have also taught some classes related to CISM. This also involves “getting down and dirty” along with the others. In the event of a major incident, I will be called out to be on-scene in a support role.

Over the past two years, I have also been involved in the formation of the Alberta Association of Fire Chaplains. A number of us felt the need to build a resource for fire chaplains across our province in order to provide mutual support, a vehicle for standardizing qualifications, job descriptions, and role training opportunities. We are also involved in promoting the need for departments to consider recruiting chaplains for the well-being of their firehalls."

— Al Litchfield serves as a volunteer community and first response chaplain in Raymond, AB

Introducing Jazmine Lawrence

“My name is Jazmine Lawrence and I became a Fellowship chaplain in 2020. The role simply affirms what God had already been calling and equipping me for: talking and praying with people I sincerely care about! I'm a part-time student in the MDiv program at Heritage Theological Seminary, which satiates my craving to wrestle with questions about reality. I once thought my permanent reality was brokenness and pain, physically and emotionally, but Jesus has been healing me! I yearn for others to know Jesus and have reason to trust in Him forever! Another Fellowship chaplain, Danielle Presseault, had already broken ground to make chaplaincy an integral part of our church's ministry (Greenbelt Baptist Church, Ottawa, ON). She paved the way for a fast start, as we began an ESL Bible study via Zoom with “folks-come-friends” who are new to Canada. I also do regular phone calls and home visits to talk and pray with people, whether from our church or not. It has been the joy of my life to see people come to know Jesus, be awed at the love of God made visible in Scripture, take communion for the first time, get baptized, and experience Jesus’ healing and freeing them from deep wounds."

— Jazmine Lawrence is a volunteer community chaplain serving in Ottawa, ON.

Restricted but not Restrained

“Well, what a year this has been. I'm sure it's one that will often be talked about in future years. Yet through it all God has been with us. Psalm 63 was my personal theme passage of scripture this year, 'God's unfailing love is better than life itself'. What a promise to help us navigate the way forward day by day!

Elaine and I had the privilege of delivering bags of groceries to needy families for several months through the pandemic. This was a special initiative through Community CARES Youth Outreach in Sydney Mines, NS. Ministry in the community continues to move forward. Hope House continued through the pandemic to help women with recovery and a new way of life.”

— Lloyd Johnstone with Island Business Ministries, North Sydney, NS

“As you know, the prison doors have been closed to our ministry during this pandemic, but I have been able to persevere in my food bank ministry while closely following their internal rules. About three weeks ago I met Josée there, and she told me that she was experiencing demonic manifestations in her home, which put her into a panic! I assured her of my prayer support and that we would deal (with God's help) with that terrible situation. A team of pastors was sent to that home where they prayed for the deliverance and exorcism of that dwelling. Praise the Lord, for the manifestations have stopped and we were able to present the Gospel to her!”

— Daniel Gagné is an employee chaplain community/corrections, Granby, QC

“Since COVID, my activities at the long-term care facility have practically stopped. At any rate, I had to stop because I had sprained an ankle and for three months I could hardly do anything. However, recently I contacted an elderly man I was visiting before the pandemic and as I am not allowed to visit him at this time, I told him that I would call him regularly and he was very happy to know that he was not forgotten.”

— Marcelle Ratelle is a volunteer hospital chaplain, Rivière Rouge, QC

Retirement

October 2020 — Glen Eagleson, military chaplain with the Fellowship for 12 years (St. John's, NL and Halifax, NS)  A friend told Glen, "Retirement is a man-made thing. Now God can use you at His willing time. The real thing is He has trained you just for this time of life." Flash — Glen was recently asked to serve part-time as a military chaplain at a local base in Nova Scotia.

December 2020 — Carol Bell, community Fellowship chaplain for four years (Grandview Baptist Church, Kitchener, ON)    A couple of years ago I asked Carol to send me a prayer request for herself and this is what she wrote, “Pray that I will continue to grow in character and closeness to Christ and find places to be used well by Him in the years ahead.” Let's ask the Lord to honor that request and use Carol wherever the Lord leads her.

December 2020 — Peter King senior chaplain at Toronto Airport for 21 years (Toronto, ON).  Peter is one of our longest serving employee chaplains. In spite of COVID restrictions, a small reception was held at the airport to mark the occasion for which Steve Jones was present. On behalf of the Fellowship, Steve thanked Peter and his wife, Rosemarie, for the many years of faithful and fruitful service in this ministry. Steve also announced that beginning in January, Mike Garabedian would be our new Senior Chaplain at Pearson! Welcome Mike!

Become a Fellowship Chaplain

Please prayerfully consider if Fellowship Chaplaincy might be your way to minister in your community. Any Fellowship pastor or church member can apply. Check out our website and/or contact our Fellowship Chaplaincy Coordinator, Larry Freeman at lfreeman@fellowship.ca.