STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARTIN DOBLMEIER

Traditional church attendance may be on the decline in America, but a unique ministry is growing.

“Chaplaincy is growing--and for good reason,” says documentary filmmaker Martin Doblmeier. “They embody what it means to practice your faith in some of the most dynamic yet challenging settings imaginable. Whether it's on the front lines with our military, at the hospital bedside, in the prison system or alongside our first responders, chaplains deserve both our respect and heartfelt gratitude.”

Chaplain Karuna Thompson ministers at Oregon State Penitentiary.

Chaplains have certainly earned the respect of Doblmeier, whose films have done a deep dive into such subjects as “Bonhoeffer,” “Reinhold Niebuhr,” “Thomas Jefferson,” “Albert Schweitzer: Called to Africa,” “The Power of Forgiveness” and “Backs Against the Wall the Howard Thurman Story.”

Doblmeier also filmed the movie “Chaplains.” And the Wood River Interfaith Council will screen it at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, at The Community Library in Ketchum. A second showing will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, a Hailey Town Center West.

Those wishing to see the film at The Community Library can reserve a seat at  https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/15864250. There’s no need for reservations for the Hailey showing.

A panel discussion moderated by Tyler Norris, a trained chaplain who helped lead the early stages of Blaine County’s Mental Well-Being Initiative, recently renamed TogetherWe, will follow both screenings.

The panel will feature Sabrina Roblin, a chaplain with St. Luke’s Wood River; Mike Higgs, a chaplain who works with the Hospice and Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley and law enforcement and firefighters in the Wood River Valley, and Jenna Vagias, executive director of TogetherWe.

The film examines how chaplains are on the front lines, often in times of war, wildfire and other instances of life and death where the questions are the deepest and the need for spiritual and pastoral care the greatest. It follows chaplains to the battlefields of Afghanistan, a motion picture retirement home in Hollywood, a Tyson poultry processing plant in Tennessee, a state penitentiary in Oregon, the U.S. Congress, a hospital and even  the NASCAR racetrack.

“Nobody needs a chaplain until you REALLY need a chaplain,” says a chaplain for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Dolblmeier said the only chaplain most people know is the fictional Father Mulcahy in “MASH.”

“I believe they perform an extraordinary service, not only in the world of religion but to and for the secular world, as well,” he said. “Often, they seem to operate under the radar, supporting the health care providers, the first responders, the soldiers in the field, yet too often their contribution is going unnoticed and underappreciated.”

Doblmeier said he came to appreciate the difficult position chaplains often find themselves in.

“They perform what to my mind is this incredibly important service. Yet too often the organizations they work with see them as outsiders or an appendage to the larger effort. That is especially apparent when it comes to how their positions are funded. Does the hospital pay for their services like they pay for doctors, nurses and other staff members? In some instances, yes. Too often what chaplains receive is a patchwork of support yet they seem undaunted and unwavering in their commitment.”

Most parish pastors have a congregation they come to know and serve over many years. They work in a stable, consistent setting--the parish church--where they are in control. 

“Chaplains in many cases are working out of a setting that belongs to someone else--a hospital, college, prison, police or fire station, etc. It takes a very different skill set to succeed in that kind of environment but it’s a skill set we can all benefit from.”

The screening is the latest that several local faith groups have sponsored to spur discussions about the influence of faith on public life, said Pastor Stephen R. McCandless of the Sun Valley Adventist Church.

“Films on forgiveness, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s moral courage during the Holocaust, Rabbi Abraham Heschel’s impact on Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement and the value of Sabbath-keeping in 24/7 cultures have sparked meaningful dialogue,” he said. “People keep encouraging us to continue offering these catalysts for learning, conversations and actions.”            

Juli Miller, who serves on the Wood River Interfaith Council, said co-sponsors wanted  something that could help develop the support system for mental health and general well-being given their involvement with TogetherWe.

“If we learn what chaplains are capable of doing, maybe we could think about how we could turn the work of chaplains in a community up a notch,” she said. “Chaplains do not represent specific denominations. They’re trained to meet with people no matter what their personal faith and figure out how to support them--to give them an escort, so to speak through a difficult passage. It’s such a gift to get that support in your darkness moment.”

Chaplains go into spaces where people face their deepest fears, hardest losses and most honest questions, said Roblin: “In our most vulnerable moments, we discover what truly sustains and connects us—not answers, but presence; not solutions, but compassion.”

The screening is being presented in collaboration with Sun Valley Seventh-Day Adventist Church, the Wood River Jewish Community, Light on the Mountains Center for Spiritual Living, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hailey, St. Thomas Episcopal Church and the Blaine County's Mental Well-Being Initiative.

COMING UP NEXT:

Martin Doblmeier is in the final stages of a new four-hour series called “Christianity at a Crossroads.”

The series will explore the decline of Christian practice in America today and how it impacts the nation, not just practicing Christians. It will also examine where Christianity is thriving and what lies ahead.

“It has been the most challenging film to date and we are VERY excited,” said Doblmeier.