A FIRST STEP TOWARD POLICE CHAPLAINCY
Someone sees something in you. Start discovering where it might lead.
A police chaplain may have shared this because they see your kindness, steadiness, or willingness to show up for others. You do not need to have your future figured out. Follow a path through the films, books, and interactive guides collected here—with the chaplain who sees that possibility in you.
Begin the journey ↓
Follow the named videos, readings, and activities at each stop. Some you can explore on your own; Gravitas is a conversation and practice to share with your mentor. Check off each stop after completing its activity and reflection. The links open in a new tab so you can keep your place here. There is no deadline or score.
This is an introduction to the calling, not a qualification or permission to undertake chaplain duties. Explore real-world preparation and appropriate opportunities with your chaplain.
Tell this young person what you see in them. Choose a time to meet again, and let their questions guide your conversation. Read or watch alongside them when helpful; there is no need to rush through difficult material.
Invite ordinary, supervised service and careful listening. Talk about boundaries, serving people whose beliefs differ from their own, and knowing when trained professionals are needed. Help them explore the requirements of an actual program before planning a route into chaplaincy.
0 of 11 stops complete
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Why We Need Police Chaplains. How We Support Them.
A chaplain’s work often begins with an ordinary conversation. Start with the need behind the calling, and the trust that makes that conversation possible.
Read the message (opens a new tab)Why might an officer talk to someone they already know before asking anyone else for help?
The Police Chaplain Project highlights
Watch the Police Chaplain Project highlights here. Then talk with your chaplain about the different kinds of presence and service you noticed.
Visit the full archive (opens a new tab)What did you hear that changed your picture of what a police chaplain does?
Rabbi Marie Betcher recalls her first days as a police chaplain.
Watch Marie Betcher’s account of beginning the work. Then use the Legendary Women collection to hear more from Marie Betcher, Cyndee Thomas, and Mindi Russell.
Open the video collection (opens a new tab)What would you want to ask an experienced chaplain about their first year?
Gravitas for Police Chaplains
This is a stop to do with your mentor. Watch “The Giants Behind the Calling,” then open Gravitas together. Begin with “Five things to notice about yourself” and “Practice the Discipline of Presence.” Ask your chaplain to connect the reading to something experience taught them, and choose one practice to work on before you meet again.
Open Gravitas together (opens a new tab)How did your mentor learn to be steady? What do they notice in you that you can develop—and what habit should you practice together?
Chaplain David Fair Reading the Room
Watch Dave Fair’s conversation about reading the room. With your mentor, connect what you hear to the attention, silence, and restraint described in Gravitas.
Visit the full archive (opens a new tab)What would you want to notice before deciding what to say or do? Ask your mentor how they learned to notice it.
My Credo
Read the opening and “What a Credo Is.” Then write one sentence about the person you intend to become. Keep it somewhere private; it does not need to sound impressive.
Open the book (opens a new tab)What principle would you want to hold onto when you are tired, disappointed, or under pressure?
Living Resource Guide
Read “What Belongs in a Living Resource Guide” and “Why the Guide Must Stay Alive.” With your chaplain, identify three community organizations and what each actually does.
Read the guide (opens a new tab)How is connecting someone with the right help different from trying to be their only source of help?
Honoring the Fallen — Police Memorial Services 101
Work through Before the Service, During the Service, and After the Service. Try the arrival-time, attire, and words-of-condolence activities. Complete the 14-kindness Etiquette Companion, then discuss how the family’s wishes guide the way a community pays its respects. This companion site is part of the collection linked from ChaplainUSA.
Begin Honoring the Fallen (opens a new tab)Which act of care could a young person offer? What would you ask the family’s liaison before helping?
Lean on Me: 10 Ways to Be There for Those Who Grieve
Start with “Use Their Name.” Read at your own pace. If loss is close to home, you can leave this stop for a conversation with your chaplain.
Explore Lean on Me (opens a new tab)What is one thoughtful way to remember someone or stay in touch, without assuming you know what another person needs?
ChaplainUSA: Chaplains & Contributors
Open the biographies of Chaplain David Fair and Rabbi-Cantor Marie Betcher in the contributor index. Connect their stories with the videos you watched, and ask your mentor which other chaplain’s story you should explore next.
Meet the contributors (opens a new tab)Whose story would you like to learn more about, and why?
Your next conversation
Bring your questions and the one idea that stayed with you. Ask your chaplain what preparation, education, faith-community connections, training, and agency requirements you should explore together. Choose one realistic next step.
What can I practice now? Who could help me grow? When will we meet again?
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Police chaplains are critical to the spiritual survival of police officers and their families. The problem is there aren’t enough of them to go around.
At a time when police officers are increasingly asked to walk into the distress of the country, absorb it, and keep moving, officers are hesitant to ask for help.
It’s enough to put even a good person’s soul at hazard.
A police chaplain enters through a different door.
The chaplain is someone the officer already knows and trusts—someone who can ask, “How are you doing?” or “Let’s get some coffee.”
That is one of the great, underappreciated strengths of police chaplaincy: the chaplain can reach an officer before the officer believes help is necessary.
That small opening can yield enormous benefits.
A spiritually grounded officer can bring that steadiness back to the street and help keep cynicism from taking hold.
Yet police chaplaincy is often held together by goodwill alone.
Chaplain programs rely heavily on volunteers and operate with little to no funding. It takes a genuine calling to wake up in the middle of the night to comfort a grieving family, staying long after everyone else has gone.
Many of the best chaplains are retirees who continue to serve because they are often the only lifeline for those in crisis. Without their continued dedication, a department’s chaplaincy program would collapse.
For nearly 20 years, ChaplainUSA has worked to change that.
Thanks to your support, wisdom that might otherwise be lost finds new purpose—comforting those in grief and giving police leaders the practical tools they need to lead through crisis.
Our goal, ultimately, is simple: when something becomes too heavy for an officer to carry alone, someone they already trust should be close enough to say, “Let’s get some coffee.”
TAKE THE NEXT STEP TOGETHER
You do not need every answer. Bring your curiosity, your questions, and your willingness to grow. Agree on one next step with your chaplain—and a time to talk again.