THE SPIRITUAL CARE UNIT

Of the

FLORIDA BAPTIST DISASTER RELIEF

 

 

Introduction

 

The Spiritual Care Unit was created to mobilize volunteers and professionals in response to a disaster. The responsibility for the Unit lies with the Chaplain Group in the Church & Community Ministries Department under the supervision of the Disaster Relief Department. The Unit has three groups: Prayer Teams coordinated by Rick Shepherd, Barnabas Group coordinated by Chaplain Group and Evangelism Division, Chaplain Group coordinated by Marc Johnston.

 

The Barnabas Group took shape in 2007. A field guide was written, trainings were offered and people responded. Five hundred and forty one people attended the trainings in 2007.

 

Background

 

In the past, Emergency Services Chaplaincy Training was offered. After the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005, many people responded to the training. It “snowballed”. The intention was for these to also take the Basic Chaplaincy course and go through the Florida Baptist Certification process. So many volunteers responded that the system could not handle the number. At the same time, many of the volunteers felt inadequate to be called a Chaplain and did not really desire to be one. Most of the volunteers just wanted to love on people and share their faith. During a “think tank” in January of 2007 the Barnabas Group was born.

 

Purpose of the Barnabas Group

 

To provide a structure within the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief Department where volunteers can be trained and mobilized to meet the spiritual needs of the Direct, Indirect and Hidden victims of the disaster. While the other groups within Disaster Relief are “high task”, the Barnabas Group will be “high touch”.

 

Members of the Barnabas Team will be trained to:

 

 

Training

 

Each year, Florida Baptist Disaster Relief Department provides seven to eight regional trainings. The basic DR course is offered in the mornings and specialized trainings are offered in the afternoons. The Barnabas training is offered at all regional trainings in the mornings and afternoons. The morning sessions are available for DR volunteers who are returning volunteers. The Barnabas training has become the evangelism training for all DR volunteers and a permanent part of the DR regional training. All DR volunteers are encouraged to take the training (see The Barnabas Team is for every Christian), but not required.

 

How do Chaplains relate to the Barnabas Group?

 

One or more Chaplains will be at each disaster response. The Chaplains will mentor and provide direction for the Barnabas Group. Each evening the Chaplain will provide a debriefing session. This will give opportunity to celebrate what God has done through them and give opportunity to discuss how to handle difficult situations.

 

Many of the victims (80-85% in my experience) need someone to cry on, be listened to, someone to pray with them and love on them. Others need to be referred. The Chaplain will be the “go to” in this situation. They will also know of physical resources that are available.

 

Where will the Barnabas Group serve?

 

We encourage every Feeding Unit, Clean Up and Recovery Team, etc. to have Barnabas Team members as part of their group. A minimum of two Barnabas Team members should go out with each group. Some teams will not have Barnabas Team members traveling with them. If not, we will call out Barnabas team members to join these teams. The DR Department will notify the Chaplain Group where and how many Barnabas Team members are needed.

 

The Barnabas Team members are expected to seek out spiritual care needs and meet them as God leads them. While a clean up team is at a certain site, the operation may take a long time. The Barnabas Team members will be encouraged to minister first at the home that team is working on and then moves from door to door. While they are ministering to the spiritual needs, they can also be assessing for physical needs.

 

In addition, the Barnabas Team members will assist in Commodity Distribution and Financial Assistance.

 

Through the ministry of Disaster Relief, many prospects are discovered for the local Churches. Many times the Churches have not capitalized on the ministry due to the fact that after a disaster they are healing also. Barnabas Team members will be deployed to assist Churches to follow up on these prospects.

 

The Barnabas Team is for every Christian!

 

We anticipate that every team that leaves a staging area will have at least two Barnabas Team members with them, designated to meet the spiritual needs of the direct victims, the indirect victims and, at times, the hidden victims.

 

Disaster Relief Ministry is servant evangelism at its best. We are encouraging all DR volunteers to go through the Barnabas training. Everyone should be prepared to minister and share their faith as the opportunity arises. We realize that most of our DR volunteers are “high task” but the reason they are there is because they care for people. All of DR volunteers need to be prepared for the opportunities when the Holy Spirit opens the door.

 

When a disaster strikes many people respond to help. Pastors show up because of their compassionate heart. These will serve through the Barnabas Group. A shortened, basic DR training will be provided at the staging area and the Chaplain will give a briefing. Many of the Pastors that respond will have years of Pastoral care experience. They just need to understand some of the basics of DR and the relationship with Red Cross and other organizations. The Chaplain will need to brief them on where they are needed and the stress level of the victims and volunteers.

 

Can a Barnabas Team Member become a Chaplain?

 

Yes! We encourage Barnabas Team Members to consider becoming a Chaplain. Many Barnabas Team Members are already close to having all the training required. Several have taken the Emergency Services Chaplaincy course in the past. We are also offering courses online which make it more convenient to receive the required training.

 

Since we started the Spiritual Care Unit of Disaster Relief, there has been some confusion. Some people who went through the Emergency Services Chaplaincy Training in 2004-2006 thought they were already Chaplains. Requirements to be a Chaplain have not changed but are just being enforced due to liability. One of the requirements listed in the Emergency Services Chaplaincy Training Manual was the Basic Chaplaincy Course. This is one of the courses we have made available online. It has always been the intention that a person has experience along with training to be a Chaplain. The Florida Baptist Chaplain Certification process has been in place over 20 years. The requirement of six months of experience has been the area of concern. How can you get experience when disasters do not happen every day?

 

First of all, we encourage you to serve with a Chaplain (to become a Chaplain) in some other area such as law enforcement, hospital, prison, resort, fire department and many others. If you want to serve only in disaster relief, you will begin as a Barnabas Team Member. Your experience as a Barnabas Team Member counts toward your certification. Serving in disaster relief can be very intense. Every ten hours served in disaster relief counts as a week of experience. In a typical disaster relief response after a hurricane, you would receive 6-8 weeks of experience in one week. The requirements are 6 months of experience which is 26 weeks or 250 hours.

 

If you want to serve as an official Disaster Relief Chaplain, please go through the certification process that is listed on this web site. If you have been responding to disasters, you may already qualify.

 

Marc Johnston is the Church and Community Ministries Director. Chaplaincy is a major part of his department. Please contact him with questions regarding Disaster Relief Chaplaincy and the Spiritual Care Unit for Disaster Relief. Contact information: mjohnston@flbaptist.org (800) 226-8584 ext. 3113.

Barnabas Manual