‘One Step Closer to Christ’

is the Vocational Statement of the Bismarck Law Enforcement Chaplaincy. Just as Christ reached out and touched the hearts of people who were really in need, so we reach out as a Crisis Care Chaplaincy to touch the hearts of people who have been impacted by a traumatic event. We endeavor to be available along with law enforcement, fire and rescue agencies to minister to people who are experiencing a crisis bringing them 'One Step Closer to Christ.' 

The Chaplaincy serves basically the Bismarck-Burleigh County, North Dakota jurisdiction. We do, however, travel the state doing trainings, holding critical incident stress debriefings and assisting other agencies. We have a staff of one full time chaplain and six volunteer chaplains who serve around the clock.

The Chaplaincy meets the three prongs of the Constitutional Establishment Clause while serving under governmental agencies. The three prongs are: 1) Does the chaplaincy have a secular purpose? 2) The chaplaincy must not have the primary or principle effect of enhancing or prohibiting religion. 3) Does the chaplaincy foster an excessive entaglement with religion? As with military chaplaincy, The Chaplaincy's secular purpose is crisis intervention and we do not push any one faith over another. "...the pastoral orientation to crisis intervention brings with it a 'value-added' over and above the the traditional non-pastoral approach to crisis intervention."* Chaplaincy offers hope and restoration.

The Chaplaincy is a faith based, 501-C-3 non-profit organization. As a non-governmental agency we can respond to an incident in a timely and compassionate manner.

The Chaplaincy has a well defined diversity policy. We never try to uproot a person in crisis from their own faith basis. We do seek to be the healing presence of Christ when individuals and families find themselves in crisis. Our staff of chaplains come from a wide variety of backgrounds.

The Chaplaincy seeks to keep current in crisis intervention protocols. We have consistent training to give our staff the best quality of training in evidence based crisis intervention skills. Most of our staff has taken the training offered through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.  

The Chaplaincy holds membership with the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, International Conference of Police Chaplains and the Federation of Fire Chaplains. Our Chaplaincy maintains high standards of professional education, thus keeping aware of the latest developments in the world of emergency services.

The hope we have in bringing people ‘One Step Closer to Christ’ is that through trauma, crisis and suffering Christ can redeem our pain, heal our hurt, give hope, and continue to create us in His image.

*Dr. George Everly 2002. International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.