IN THEORY:Chaplains in the workplace

A recent show on National Public Radio focused on chaplains in the workplace. The interview was at the Tyson pork processing plant in Iowa and featured a chaplain who is ordained a Lutheran but ministers to all denominations or to those with no faith tradition at work. The idea was to support staff and keep employees happier.

Overall, management was happy and found the chaplains to be effective.

But not everyone is thrilled with the idea.

Some oppose the practice, saying the workplace is not the kind of house of worship a chaplain should be working in.

What do you think?

The U.S. Senate employs a chaplain; the military employs many chaplains, as do the various law enforcement branches. Chaplains serve in voluntary capacities at race tracks, again, in law-enforcement organizations and in sporting venues, etc.

If businesses also find that having a spiritual guide in their midst keeps their workplace productive and happy, then why shouldn't they employ such personnel? Many companies already provide child care, infirmaries, cafeterias and company stores, as well as health-and-fitness instruction, all to meet the holistic needs of their workforce. The more employee care sown, the more company loyalty reaped, I'm guessing is the thought.

Chaplains are specialty ministers. They focus on more personal needs and concerns than a congregational minister generally can. They offer counsel, spiritual insight and helpful advice on the spot. Workplace chaplains should think of their ministries as para-church, like the many other specialty religious organizations that exist to support and strengthen the local body.

Never should the goal be to de-church the population with alternatives, be they television ministers, radio preachers or workplace chaplains, but it should be to strengthen the local affiliation by filling in the work-a-day gaps. Chaplains also connect with people who may not otherwise find spiritual connection, were chaplains unavailable.

Pastors lead spiritual groups comprised of biblical disciples and those that will join them. They teach, direct and generally befriend their congregations, but a workplace chaplain is a person who can be right there when an individual desires immediate succor. If a minister finds his calling outside the confines of the local assembly, then let his be another positive influence that channels people into one.

"For we are God's fellow workers" (1 Corinthians 3:9).

THE REV. BRYAN GRIEM

Senior Pastor

MontroseCommunity

Church.org