Chaplains in the Workplace
*Note this blog post is a summary of the content from our initial newsletter which was distributed with pictures.
Serving Those Who Serve
Welcome!
This is our first newsletter and is designed to tell you a little about Salt & Light Partners and our ministry. We are also pleased to introduce you to our chaplains and board, and give you several ways to stay in touch with us.
Future newsletters will keep you apprised of our ongoing efforts and give you a window into the value of what we do. We hope you enjoy reading about our support to first responders, and we welcome any opportunity to meet and share more about our mission.
The Work
Then and Now
In January 2021, Salt & Light Partners was founded with George Beech as the Executive Director and began serving the Rochester community with workplace chaplaincy.
Our first partner was the Rochester Police Department (RPD), where George began serving as the first S&L police chaplain in March 2021. Concurrently, we were able to begin support to caregivers at Visiting Angels. From the beginning, the mission was clear - serve those who serve.
A year later, we had four chaplains serving in the RPD and we are still supporting Visiting Angels and their caregivers!
Recently, we also began working with the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) and now we are bringing on four new chaplains to support OCSO. We are also working to partner with the Rochester Fire Department and with at least three chaplains to support RFD.
By the end of 2022, we are on track to welcome three more chaplains across the county and will have 14 chaplains providing support in the community! God is good!
Celebrations and Invocations
We have been honored to be a part of the RPD team and help celebrate their promotions, applaud their service accomplishments, and support their activities. So often their service and sacrifice go unnoticed, making these events so important to them and their families. We are grateful that our role as chaplains with the RPD has resulted in the opportunity to provide prayers and invocations at these ceremonies.
Time and Trust
All of the chaplains spend time with the officers during their shifts getting to know them personally so they can build trust. As a result of this time together, it is now common practice for the officers to call our chaplains when they are going out on a death notification. The chaplains are able to be with the officers and families during their time of distress and provide spiritual and emotional support.
Meet Our Chaplains
Workplace chaplaincy is a ministry of presence. Each of these chaplains has a background in ministry, a passion for serving those who serve, a willingness to take the late night calls, and above all the care and compassion needed to walk alongside people in their time of need.
More about our Chaplains can be found here: https://www.saltandlightpartners.org/about
Training and National Certifications
Our chaplains are constantly learning and loved attending annual training as part of their certification through the International Conference of Police Chaplains.
Meet Our Board
Our board members have partnered with us and worked to build an organization well positioned to provide workplace chaplaincy in our community.
Of key importance, in addition to setting our mission, vision, values, and strategic direction, our board set out to make sure we were sustainable from an organizational perspective.
We started out in 2021 under the fiscal sponsorship of Team Rochester, and in the last year secured our own 501c3 status, completing all the necessary work to be recognized by the IRS and state of Minnesota as a certified nonprofit organization. That was a wonderful milestone and we are very grateful for their wisdom, talent, and selfless service to create an organizational structure to support and sustain this mission.
Let us introduce you:
Tierre Webster, Kathleen Harrington, JoMarie Morris, Ken Rowe, Bethany von Steinbergs, Larry Smith, Christine Beech, Ken Dose, and George Beech
More on our board can be found here: https://www.saltandlightpartners.org/about
We are very grateful for your partnership in this work!
Interested in learning more?
Check out our website: https://www.saltandlightpartners.org/
Send us an email: george.beech@saltandlightpartners.org
Or follow us on Facebook to stay up to date on our work!