A demanding time for chaplains who give at the office

Where to turn to talk about the boss who just won't let up? Or about the new hire who doesn't respect you as a manager? Or even about your home, when your kids won't do their homework?

For those who would seek the counsel of a chaplain, they might look for that help in an unexpected location: the workplace.

Pushed into a new prominence during this time of employee unease, workplace chaplains are busier than they've been in years. The events of Sept. 11, not to mention increased downsizing and corporate belt-tightening, have intensified worker demand for a prayer-based approach to such challenges - and businesses are responding by contracting out for chaplains.

"A lot of us got a lot busier on Sept. 11," says Diana Dale, executive director of the National Institute of Business and Industrial Chaplains (NIBIC) and a corporate chaplain herself.

The rising profile of "business chaplains" is a reflection of a broader trend of a more overt spirituality in the workplace. In recent years, workers have begun to organize voluntary, lunch-hour Bible study groups or prayer sessions. Business leaders, too, have given more time to workplace discourse on ethics and core values.

Workers themselves seek faith-based support for a variety of reasons.

One senior manager, who had just been laid off, "started talking up front about religious themes, and invited that from me," says Dr. Dale of NIBIC, which sets standards and provides certification for workplace chaplains. "In a crisis time in your life, you're wondering what it's all about."

Donna Craft, an assistant supervisor at Town North National Bank in Dallas, found solace at work in the days after Sept. 11.

After the attacks, one of the bank's two chaplains (who visit the office weekly under a contract with chaplaincy provider Marketplace Ministries) held a voluntary prayer meeting, at the request of the bank's CEO.

"We talked about supporting the country and praying for those who lost loved ones," says chaplain Ann Forester, a Southern Baptist, who led the meeting.

For Ms. Craft, a Roman Catholic, it was an enormous support. Her brother, a New York City firefighter, had been working on the recovery operation at ground zero. "It was so comforting to have her here," Crast says. "I don't have any family here. Sometimes you really need somebody to go to."

Corporate chaplaincy is modeled after military or hospital chaplains. Most workplace chaplains are ordained or commissioned by their denominations, and the majority represent Christian faiths. Of an estimated 4,000 chaplains who work with businesses, most are contracted out through worker-assistance programs or chaplaincy organizations.

The goal of corporate chaplains is simple: to support workers. Chaplains are to refrain from promoting any one religion or from preaching to workers. Employees' contact with chaplains is voluntary and confidential.

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