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ADVENTIST CHAPLAINCY MINISTRIES

INFORMATION PAPER

The Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries (ACM) Department serves as the ecclesiastical endorsing agency for the General Conference and North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  As the denomination’s liaison with ecclesiastical, government and professional organizations, ACM assists qualified Adventist clergy to transition from pastoral ministry into the chaplaincy ministries of campus, community, corrections, healthcare, military and the work place.  The qualifications required to become a chaplain are church membership in regular standing, holding a current denominational commissioned or ministerial license, meeting all requirements of the employing agency and obtaining ecclesiastical endorsement from the ACM Committee.          

Chaplaincy ministry in the Adventist Church began at Battle Creek College (ca.1875), and expanded shortly after into Battle Creek Sanitarium and other Adventist healthcare facilities.  WW II prompted a few Adventist ministers with vision to venture into the military services as chaplains.  Nearly one hundred Adventist clergy now serve as military chaplains, providing pastoral care for Adventists in the military services.  The first Adventist chaplain for a correctional institution started serving in the California State prison system in 1959.  Currently over 350 Adventist clergy engage in one of the chaplaincy ministries across North America.  Several hundred others engage in various chaplaincy ministries in the other countries of the world field.   

Also under the ACM umbrella are chaplain associations for the various chaplaincies.    ACM conducts an annual training conference for each association, provides chaplains with resource materials and represents their interests.  Assistant ACM Directors work as Field Representatives of the ACM Department throughout the North American Division.  They are ordained ministers (chaplains) who extend the reach of the ACM Department, promote its vision and help accomplish its mission.  They inform Adventist students, church members, pastors and leaders about chaplain opportunities and military-related issues by visits to campuses, young adult groups, clergy training conferences, etc.             

Following WW II the National Service Organization (NSO) was established to assist church members serving in the military.  Through an offering taken the second Sabbath in June on even years, NSO provides military church members in uniform with Bible kits, church journals, devotional books and religious literature.  ACM evolved from the NSO in 1985.  ACM (NSO) also sponsors religious retreats for military-related members stationed overseas and helps resolve problems with accommodation of religious practice.  Numbers of Adventist Military Chapel Worship Groups conduct Sabbath services in the current combat theater, Europe, Japan and Korea. 

For further information about chaplaincy ministries, ecclesiastical endorsement, the application process, questions about public or military service, and assistance with accommodation of religious practice, ACM can be contacted via:

     Department email:  acm@gc.adventist.org

     Internet web site:  http://www.adventistchaplains.org

     Office telephone:  (301) 680-6780 or 6782