What to Do After You're Endorsed as a CRC Chaplain

Our ministry’s passion is to be a resource for our chaplains through endorsement, providing pastoral care, advocating, answering questions, and sharing their gifts with the chaplain community and denomination. Our deepest desire is to help chaplains flourish in ministry. Chaplains, we’re here to serve you! We covenant with you and your calling church to provide accountability, empowerment, and support for you as a chaplain.

Please stay connected with us through our newsletter (sign up here), CRC Chaplain Facebook Group, Annual Training conference, weekly zoom meetings, director visits to your local area, and individual contacts through video, phone, and email. You can find chaplains in your local area by visiting our website.

A few things to remember as a newly endorsed chaplain:

1. Please send us a paragraph so we can introduce you to our chaplains in the next two weeks! Here are some examples.
2. Complete the steps outlined in your provisional endorsement letter to move towards being fully endorsed. Revisit the endorsement checklist on our website.  

3. Send your annual report to your church and our ministry. Each spring, we create a template that you can quickly fill out and print out to provide to your church and our ministry. You may utilize a different format or question. This is vital for our ministry to share with churches and our denomination your vital work on behalf of the denomination. It also provides information and resources that our ministry can utilize and share to bless our chaplain community.

4. Please inform our ministry of any changes in your employment, location, calling church, new certifications or training, changes regarding your ministerial status, promotions, certifications, and specialized training to share with our chaplain community and our denomination.
5. Attend our Annual Training in Grand Rapids, MI. We cover the travel cost (in full for full-time chaplains and prorated for part-time). This is a wonderful time of soul renewal, gaining pastoral care tools, and developing meaningful collegial relationships. We hope that chaplains attend at least every 3-4 years, and many chaplains attend every year because it’s a great way to connect and learn alongside other CRCNA chaplains.
6. Continue to connect with your mentor (preference for CRC chaplain in your vocational field.) This is a Synodical requirement for all newly ordained CRC pastors and recently endorsed chaplains. Please send us and Pastor Church Resources ([email protected]) the name of your mentor.         
7. Annually revisit your Covenant of Joint Supervision with your church to ensure clear communication and meeting expectations of support and supervision.
8. Please continue to send us your questions and resources.

For those looking for stories and inspiration in your work, several chaplains recommend On Living by Kerry Egan and Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide by Alan Baker. Join our Facebook group and follow Chaplaincy on The Network for more resources.