|
|
The Newsletter for Endorsed Chaplains, Certified Chaplains and Advisory Board MembersServing Chaplains in Their Unique Places of Ministry
| |
| DIRECTOR'S CORNER NAE CHAPLAINCY
| |
| Chaplains First, Ministry Always
| |
| A report can tell me how many services a chaplain led. It can't show me the hallway where that chaplain works. It can't show me the faces at the nurses' station, the gate at the facility, or the weight a chaplain carries home. The Apostle John understood the limits of paper. "I would rather not use paper and ink," he wrote. "Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete" (2 John 12, ESV).
That's why I've been on the road.
I've had the opportunity to make more face-to-face visits with our chaplains this year. After the Association of Professional Chaplains Conference in New Orleans, I spent the next week with about a dozen NAE chaplains in the places they serve. Earlier travel took me to visit 11 chaplains in Florida and Georgia.
Those visits weren't inspections. They were time together. I listened. I asked what was going well and what was hard. I came home knowing our chaplains better and understanding their needs more clearly. Closer relationships are built in person, and I intend to keep building them.
I recently reported to the NAE board on where NAE Chaplaincy is heading, and I want our chaplains to hear it too. Our watch phrase for the way ahead is short. Chaplains first, ministry always.
- Showing Up
The visits come first because relationships come first. An email can pass along information. It can't sit across the table. So the travel will continue, one ministry setting at a time.
- Training Together
In August, 45 of us gathered in Birmingham for our annual training event. The theme was AI in the Ministry Setting. We learned. We ate together. We encouraged one another.
A webinar is already behind us. Another training takes place this month, and a webinar follows in December. We also launched a Chaplaincy Mentorship Program with two tracks, one for endorsement and one for certification. A chaplain working through either process now has someone walking alongside.
- New Ways to Reach Our Chaplains
The Evangelical Chaplains Chronicle is the start of our new media work. It exists to encourage endorsed and certified chaplains, and to help denominational leaders see what chaplain ministry looks like. Next month brings a podcast on chaplaincy. The website now has a newsletter archive, and we're planning a media page that will hold newsletters, podcasts, chaplain stories, and ministry resources in one place.
- What Our Chaplains Are Doing
A reporting problem left us with numbers from only 30 of our 215 endorsed chaplains this period. Look at what those 30 recorded: 912 gospel presentations, 349 professions of faith, and 161 baptisms. Plus 2,511 personal ministry and prayer opportunities. And these are the numbers from only 30 chaplains.
Behind every one of those numbers is a chaplain who showed up for somebody.
- The Rest of the Report
The Evangelical Board of Certified Chaplains keeps growing, and certification numbers rose. We remain engaged with the VA National Chaplain Center, national endorser organizations, and military chaplain advocacy efforts. As things stand at this moment, NAE Chaplaincy is operating in the black.
- The Way Ahead
Our chaplains serve in places most of the church never sees. A flight line. A cell block. A hospice room at three in the morning. Our work is to make sure nobody serves in those places alone. That has always been the promise: NAE Chaplaincy, serving chaplains in their unique places of ministry.
Chaplains first. Ministry always.
| |
| Serving alongside you,
STEVE WEST
Director of NAE Chaplaincy
| |
| Meet Steve West, Director of NAE Chaplaincy
| |
| USAF Chaplain, Colonel (Ret) Steven E. West serves as the Director of Chaplaincy for the National Association of Evangelicals. He served in the Air Force and Army for 41 years, retiring from his distinguished career as senior chaplain for Joint Base Langley/Eustis. He lives in Pelham, Alabama, with his wife, Cherri. Steve and Cherri are blessed with two adult children – Adam and Jennifer, and three grandchildren. Steve’s service dog, Max, is also a beloved member of the West family.
Steve grew up in the Southern Baptist Church where his father was a music director. He accepted Christ at a young age, and was licensed to preach when he was 15 years of age. At age 18, Steve joined the Air Force in an attempt to run from full-time ministry. Steve currently attends the Westwood Baptist Church where he teaches Sunday School. One of Steve’s most cherished Scriptures is Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Steve holds a bachelor’s degree from University of Mobile, an M.Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, a master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from University of Nebraska, and a D.Min. from Alabama Theological Seminary. Steve continues to enjoy learning about electronics, gadgets and new technology.
In 2015, Steve was hired by the National Association of Evangelicals as the Associate Endorser for Chaplains. A year later in January 2016, Steve became the Director of Chaplaincy for the National Association of Evangelicals.
Writing from his personal experiences and ministry service, Steve authored “The Bronze Scar: Understanding How PTSD Feels to Help Victims and Those Who Support Them” and “Beyond The Scar.”
| |
| Meet Juliana Lesher, Director of the Evangelical Board of Certified Chaplains
| |
| Juliana Lesher serves as the director of the Evangelical Board of Certified Chaplains for the National Association of Evangelicals. She began serving with the National Association of Evangelicals in 2024. For the past 30 years, she has ministered in various settings, including serving as the National Director of Chaplain Service for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Juliana came to saving faith in Christ at 5 years of age, and expressed a desire to minister when she was 7 years old. One of Juliana’s favorite Scriptures is 2 Corinthians 1:3–4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
She has a bachelor’s degree in public relations/journalism, an M.Div. from Evangelical Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in organizational leadership from Regent University. Juliana enjoys swimming, walking in the sunshine, singing, playing piano and spending time with her family and cat, Love. She is the author of the book, “A Heart That Sings For Jesus.”
| |
| October is recognized as Pastor Appreciation Month, a time dedicated to honoring pastors and clergy for their service and leadership. The concept of honoring those in ministry has biblical roots, with the Apostle Paul encouraging Christians to honor those who work hard among them (1 Thessalonians 5:12–13).
The first Pastoral Care Week was held in October 1985, and is hosted by The COMISS Network: The Network on Ministry in Specialized Settings. The celebration of Pastoral Care Week provides an opportunity for chaplains and pastoral care counselors, educators and providers to share their story and to celebrate various ministries. Specifically, Pastoral Care Week is designed to promote pastoral care, honor and celebrate all practitioners of pastoral care, publicize the work of pastoral care organizations, and promote education for clergy, laity, and institutional employees regarding the value of pastoral care.
Each year, there is a new theme for Pastoral Care Week. The theme for 2026 is Healing Through Presence and Grace, and connects the Japanese art of kintsugi with the sacred work of chaplains and other pastoral care givers. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, silver, or platinum lacquer. Instead of hiding the cracks, kintsugi transforming what was once broken into something more beautiful and valuable.
Chaplains walk beside the brokenhearted and offer healing, not by fixing, but by being present. We are all vessels — crafted by life, marked by joy, and, at times, fractured by sorrow. In kintsugi, broken pottery is not discarded. Instead the broken vessel is mended with gold, transforming what was once broken into a piece of beauty and resilience.
Chaplains and other pastoral care providers offer compassion, presence and gracious wisdom to help others see that their brokenness is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a new one. Each repaired heart is a testimony of someone restored by love, made whole by presence, and graced with God’s mercy.
| |
| National Association of Evangelicals Adopts Resolution on Artificial Intelligence
| |
|
The Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) approved a resolution at its semiannual meeting on October 1 addressing the opportunities, risks and moral questions raised by artificial intelligence. The resolution calls Christians, churches, technology leaders and policymakers to approach this developing technology with wisdom, humility and a commitment to human dignity.
“Artificial intelligence may prove to be one of the most consequential technologies humanity has ever developed,” said Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. “It offers tremendous potential to alleviate suffering, advance scientific discovery and serve the common good, and it also raises profound questions about truth, power, work, family life and what it means to be human. The Church cannot afford to arrive late, divided or reactive to a matter of such significance.”
| |
| PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS
Joshua Thomas – October 1
Yetunde Ajiroba – October 1
Susannah Tulloch – October 3
Lawrence “Boris” Becker – October 4
Michael Butler – October 15
Joseph Salem – October 21
Aaron Terry - October 22
Steven Satterfield – October 23
William Galoska – October 24
John Williams – October 25
Blake Hudson – October 31
| |
| "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24–26).
| |
| It is a privilege serving the NAE Chaplaincy.
Prayerfully,
| |
| JULIANA LESHER
Director of the Evangelical Board of Certified Chaplains
| |
|
|
|
|
