Book Discussion – “Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide”

This afternoon, we will be discussing Rev. Dr. Alan Baker’s book,  Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide.  The conversation will include the author, Rev. Baker, and two guest panelists, Rev. Myung Han and Rev. Christine Davies.  Dr. Raynard Smith will be the moderator.

In Foundations of Chaplaincy, Baker surveys the biblical and theological foundations of chaplaincy before enumerating four specific responsibilities and skills that define chaplaincy’s “ministry of presence”: providing, facilitating, caring, and advising. Baker’s thorough guidance on these matters is supplemented in sidebars with practical advice and anecdotes from over thirty chaplains currently serving in a variety of settings and organizations.

Chaplains who serve in healthcare, the military, correctional institutions, police and fire departments, sports teams, college campuses, and corporations have essential roles to play in their respective organizations, but theirs is rarely an easy calling. With Foundations of Chaplaincy as an introduction and an ongoing reference, those called to this important vocation may be assured of having the tools they need to cultivate a strong, mission-driven pastoral identity rooted in their own theological tradition while simultaneously participating in a multi-faith team.

	Rev. Dr. Alan T. “Blues” Baker is an RCA minister who served as a military chaplain—from Dean of the Chapel at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis to Rear Admiral.  Dr. Baker is the only graduate of the Naval Academy selected to serve as a Chaplain Corps Flag Officer. In retirement from the Navy, he founded Strategic Foundations, where he consults with public, private, academic and not-for-profit organizations as educator, catalyst, and strategist, and serves the RCA as Supervisor of Chaplain Ministries, where he provides ecclesiastical endorsements for RCA chaplains in health care, industrial, educational, military and correctional organizations throughout and beyond the United States.  He is an Adjunct Professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Wesley Theological Seminary, and Senior Fellow at the U.S. Naval Academy’s Stockdale Center of Ethical Leadership.
	Rev. Christine Davies, MDiv, MSW is the Director of Pastoral Care at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. She is a Certified Educator with the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education. Christine is an adjunct instructor in New Brunswick Theological Seminary’s Doctorate of Ministry program concentration in Pastoral Care and Counseling. She is ordained as a Minister of Word & Sacrament within the Presbyterian Church (USA). She earned a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Master of Social Work from Rutgers University. Prior to entering chaplaincy, Christine was a cognitive behavioral therapist for addiction and mental health. She has led the Chaplaincy Services department at NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC, was the CPE Coordinator at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a staff chaplain at Methodist Hospital in Philadelphia.
	Rev. Myung Han is a certified Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor through the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP). He serves as a hospice chaplain for Hospice Care Network in Queens County, New York, and has been appointed to be the convener of chaplains of Oceanside, Long Island.
	Rev. Dr. Raynard Smith is the Associate Professor of Pastoral Care/Pastoral Theology at NBTS, and Director of the Master of Arts in Pastoral Care and Counseling program. He has several years of experience as a certified chaplain and pastoral counselor working in the hospital, hospice, and medical clinic contexts. He is also an ordained minister in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC); co-founder and coordinator of the COGIC Scholars Fellowship—a network of seminarians and academics within the COGIC and other Pentecostal denominations. He is the editor of With Signs Following: The Life and Ministry of Charles Harrison Mason and author of numerous peer reviewed articles on the intersection of psychology and religion, and author of the forthcoming publication, Come Sunday Morning: Black Churches as Healing Communities.

Everyone is welcome to attend this event. Registration is required.  Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsce2przgtE9CmtIcYWaJuKOPVow1S8hiJ

This event is sponsored by the Mark Kraai Fund, which focuses on issues concerning the practice of Ministry.