THRIVE Spring Summer 2023

thrive-magazine.ca
thrive / 17
“DO YOU PROVIDE
TRAINING?”
by Larry Freeman
This is likely one of the most asked questions
when people are inquiring about
becoming a Fellowship chaplain, and one
that we are working on. The reality is that
our Fellowship chaplains come from local
churches, which is where most of their
Biblical training is acquired. Alongside
this, our chaplains bring with them their
life experiences. We are, however, seeking
to provide other training opportunities to our Fellowship chaplains.
SEMBEQ in Quebéc currently offers a Chaplaincy Degree,
and we are working with Heritage College and Seminary in
Ontario to initiate a Chaplaincy Certificate Program, hopefully
to be available this fall. We are also looking at less formal training
opportunities that are available.
We host an annual Enrichment Training Day, which is usually
held in Southern Ontario. Our Québec chaplains have been holding
mini-training/introductory sessions on a regular basis. Going
forward, we are looking at a quarterly training event over Zoom
for our English chaplains. This would replace one of our monthly
Zoom prayer and praise opportunities.
We are also producing “Equip Videos”. These are brief, introductory,
narrated PowerPoint presentations on a variety of subjects,
written by Fellowship chaplains and available in both French
and English. These can be found on the main Fellowship webpage
under the “Resources” tab. We have placed these here, rather
than on our Chaplaincy page in order that pastors and other
church leaders may also access them. We are constantly adding
to these, so check back regularly for new content.
Likely the greatest training
resource that we have is the
wealth of experience that our
Fellowship chaplains have and
are willing to share. I would urge
our churches to utilize the experience
of chaplains to provide training to your
people!
— Larry Freeman is Fellowship Chaplain
Coordinator.
EXPLORING FELLOWSHIP CHAPLAINCY IN QUÉBEC
by Donald Rodier
The “Chaplaincy Exploration Clinics” have been a key element in the development of the Fellowship chaplaincy ministry
in Québec. These workshops are intended to be a short presentation of what it means to be a Fellowship chaplain in
different sectors. The goal is to allow interested people and candidates to explore these areas of ministry.
For about an hour and a half, a Fellowship chaplain presents the reality and challenges of their ministry environment,
what their service entails, and what expertise are required to become a chaplain in their community, finishing with a time
of questions and answers.
About a dozen clinics have been made for various settings, including the military, hospitals, prisons, social reintegration,
students, street workers, airports, funerals, the elderly, sports, transportation, and digital. I hope to touch on the business,
firefighter, and community fields sometime this year.
I also made a series of about ten workshop videos on the different major religions of the world, to equip our chaplains for ministry
in our pluralistic society. Each of these videos has been a blessing for many and continue to be valuable tools to promote
the ministry of Fellowship Chaplaincy.