Your local Texas school is in dire need of chaplains. Are you ready to answer the call? Then let the National School Chaplain Association (NSCA) prepare you for this important role.
Since the time of the Romans, chaplains have had an indispensable role in the military, tending to a soldier’s spiritual needs and providing essential counseling in the most difficult times. Sadly, this level of support is nowhere to be found in the US public school system.
Things are about to change, thanks to the passing of the Senate Bill 763 (SB 763)—a legislation that will allow chaplains to work side by side with school counselors.
Its passing also means that chaplains will be in high demand in the near future, and this is where the NSCA comes in. The largest chaplaincy organization in the world is opening its doors not only to ministers and teachers who want to transition into school chaplaincy, but also to laypeople who have no background in youth service.
Learn more about the organization at https://nationalschoolchaplainassociation.org/
The NSCA said that school safety is the number one reason for hiring a school chaplain, adding that violent incidents like school shootings can be prevented through timely intervention by a trained chaplain. It’s also worth noting that the funding that will be used to pay for the chaplain’s salary will be sourced from funds allocated for school safety.
“Data shows most mass shootings are planned in advance, meaning there was time for an intervention,” it stated on its website. “Yet, students do not avail themselves of therapy services because of a lingering stigma and fear that consultations will appear as a footnote on their transcript, curtaining acceptance to post-graduation education.”
It explained that chaplains have the advantage over professional counselors because of the absence of such a stigma, as conversations with chaplains are private and their informal nature leads to students opening up more compared to when they are speaking with a teacher or counselor.
If you are considering chaplaincy training, the training available to you will depend on your background. If you’re an ordained minister or a teacher, you will only need to complete an eight-week course offered by the NSCA in partnership with Oral Roberts University. This program is asynchronous, averaging six hours per week.
If you have no prior training, the NSCA is offering an associate's degree designed specifically for individuals who have a high school diploma or its equivalency.
Both credentialed and non-credentialed students will also need to undergo active shooter training and pass the National Threat Assessment Center’s first level of threat assessment training.
If you are concerned about the seemingly unsolvable problem of violence in our schools, then this is your opportunity to make a difference.
If you’re interested in any of the above programs, you can find more information at https://nationalschoolchaplainassociation.org/chaplains/
Those who wish to support the NSCA and its initiatives may log on to https://missiongeneration.app.neoncrm.com/forms/nsca
