Emergency chaplains deploy to devastated Oregon community

On Saturday, the Rapid Response Team from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association set up its mobile ministry vehicle at Riverbend Park in Winston, Ore., a few miles from Umpqua Community College. Area churches had organized a Christian concert and prayer service there for a community shaken by the tragic school shooting that killed 10, including the gunman.

The team operates out of a specially designed and equipped truck, a recreational-type vehicle with soft lighting and comfortable seating—a place where people can sit and talk through their grief.

Inside the truck, Chase Fullerton and three others talked about their high-school friend, 18-year-old Rebecka Carnes, who died in the attack. She had just started college and was hoping to become a dental assistant.

“She graduated in June so we are here for her,” Fullerton said. “We are here for Becka.”

Jeff Naber is manager of chaplain development for the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team.

“Most pastors don’t go through a major event like this, and they don’t have the training,” he said. “Our chaplains are trained on what to say to someone who’s suffering and what not to say.”

The Graham Association launched its rapid response outreach after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Since then, the team has ministered to shocked and grieving people after fires, floods, civil unrest, and shootings, including the shooting this past summer at a movie theater in Lafayette, La.

Right now, two chaplains, both with a background in law enforcement, are on-site near Umpqua Community College. More crisis-trained chaplains will join them in the days ahead.

Often the most important thing the rapid response chaplains do is just be there.

“Most often it’s just that ministry of presence,” Naber said, “just letting people know that we love them, that God loves them, and we are just here to be with them during this time and to provide some sense of comfort for them.”

Listen to Joseph Slife’s report on the Rapid Response Team in Oregon on The World and Everything in It.