A Ministry of Presence
in the Midst of Chaos.
A professional embedded chaplaincy program providing crisis response, confidential pastoral care, and sustained presence — for first responders and their families, before the worst day comes.
Start a ConversationThe Gap Between
Call and Recovery.
First responders are trained to run toward what everyone else runs from. But no amount of physical training prepares a crew for the weight of a pediatric call, a line-of-duty death, or the slow accumulation of trauma that compounds across a career. Most departments handle it the way they always have: alone.
An Institution Built
Over 250 Years.
The United States military has embedded credentialed chaplains in its ranks since 1775 — not as a supplemental option, but as a professional standard of care. Fire service and law enforcement leadership are now recognizing what the military has known for generations: an embedded, non-reporting chaplain, present before the crisis, is the single most effective investment in sustained personnel wellness.
For all personnel of the same faith tradition. Sacraments, prayer, rites of passage, and direct spiritual guidance — for those who share the chaplain's tradition and want it.
For all personnel of a different or no faith tradition. The chaplain connects people to their own resources and traditions — serving every member of the crew without proselytizing.
For all personnel, without exception. Emotional support, crisis presence, grief care, and sustained human attention — available to every member regardless of belief or background.
When asked by leadership. A trusted, non-reporting voice on personnel wellbeing, unit morale, and the human factors that shape organizational health and command climate.
Four Pillars of
Holdfast Chaplaincy Care.
Built around Ministry of Presence, Crisis Response, and Longitudinal Care — with families included as an essential part of the program, not an afterthought.
- Regular visits to each station and shift
- Relationship-building with individual personnel
- Shared meals, coffee, and crew culture
- Direct chaplain contact — cell or text
- Regular participation in station life
- Critical incident response & on-scene support
- LODD notification support & family liaison
- Post-incident emotional & spiritual care
- CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) support
- Hospital bedside presence for injured personnel
- Individual confidential conversations on request
- Marriage and relationship support
- Grief support & trauma processing
- Retirement and career transition care
- Memorial & ceremonial services
- Chaplain available to spouses & families
- LODD family care & bereavement support
- Family events and station day coordination
- Family wellbeing check-ins as needed
- Connection to community & counseling resources
Where Holdfast Fits.
Healthy organizations rarely rely on a single source of care. Clinical resources, peer support, existing chaplaincy, and embedded pastoral care each serve different functions. Holdfast is designed to strengthen that ecosystem by adding professional, relationally embedded chaplaincy capacity where it is needed.
Licensed assessment, treatment, counseling, employee-assistance services, and referral according to provider scope and program design.
Provides pastoral care, relational continuity, spiritual support, early connection, and warm referral when needs require licensed clinical care.
Credible peer-to-peer support from people who understand the culture, work, and lived experience of the organization.
Provides a distinct pastoral lane, additional confidential-care boundaries where applicable, spiritual care, family support, and referral without replacing the peer relationship.
Often carries invaluable relational capital, crisis presence, ceremonial support, institutional history, and trusted connection built over years of service.
Can add professional standards, defined operating structure, supervised formation, continuity, coverage, leadership advisement, and additional embedded capacity where needed.
Relational presence before crisis, confidential pastoral care, longitudinal support, family care, referral and resource facilitation, and thoughtful leadership advisement within clearly defined professional boundaries.
Designed to operate as part of the larger care system—not as a replacement for clinical care, peer support, or trusted chaplains already serving well.
These resources are complementary, not interchangeable. The strongest systems make the right form of care easier to reach while preserving the distinct role, competence, and trust of each resource.
Program structures and capabilities vary by agency and provider. Holdfast works with each partner to understand the resources already in place before recommending additional capacity.
The Direction of the Profession.
Across the fire service and law enforcement, national standards and professional leadership are increasingly treating behavioral, relational, and spiritual support as part of a more complete approach to personnel wellness.
NFPA 1550 · Behavioral Health & Wellness
NFPA's current emergency-responder health and safety standard calls for fire departments to provide access to a behavioral-health program for members and their immediate families. The framework includes capacity for diagnostic assessment, short-term counseling, crisis intervention, referral, peer support, resiliency, and organizational wellness.
Holdfast does not replace those resources. Embedded chaplaincy adds a distinct pastoral and relational layer—presence before crisis, confidential spiritual care, family support, leadership advisement, and connection to appropriate clinical or community resources when needs extend beyond the chaplain's role.
The standard also places significant emphasis on confidentiality, appropriate handling of behavioral-health information, and keeping behavioral-health records and participation separate from ordinary personnel records.
IACP · 2026 Chaplaincy Resolution
In 2026, the International Association of Chiefs of Police formally encouraged law enforcement agencies to develop and maintain healthy, well-trained, and connected chaplain programs as a key component of officer wellness and organizational support.
The resolution emphasizes appropriate selection, ethical guidance, continuous training, professionalism, and meaningful connection between chaplaincy and agency wellness efforts. It also recognizes properly trained and integrated chaplains as a complement to peer-support, mental-health, and other officer-wellness strategies.
That is the kind of professional chaplaincy infrastructure Holdfast is being built to provide.
International Association of Chiefs of Police · 2026 Chaplaincy Resolution
The #1 Currency of
an Effective Chaplain.
A chaplain's effectiveness is measured by one thing: trust. Trust to be present. Trust to keep what is said confidential. Trust to be a safe place. A firefighter struggling with trauma, marital crisis, or suicidal ideation will not reach out unless he believes with certainty that no one will find out. That assurance cannot merely be a policy — it has to be law.
No one can compel a military chaplain to disclose. No exceptions within the rule.
Gold standard of civilian privilege. Crime-fraud exception only for future crimes or fraud.
Legally privileged in TX civil and criminal proceedings. Privilege belongs to the communicant. The department cannot waive it, access it through HR, or compel disclosure. No in-rule exceptions.
Protected with mandatory reporting exceptions — child abuse, gunshot wounds, communicable disease, and others.
Most regulated privileged relationship. Broadest mandatory reporting requirements of any privileged class.
Employer-contracted and employer-funded. Subject to court-ordered disclosure, mandatory reporting, and program contract terms. EAP label does not create evidentiary privilege. Firefighters widely avoid EAP due to perceived ties to the department — a structural concern, not merely a perception.
Makes records confidential from public records disclosure but does not create an evidentiary privilege. Can be subpoenaed. No statute prohibits the coordinator from voluntarily disclosing to supervisors. Policy-based, not enforceable in court.
What a firefighter shares with a chaplain sits closer to what he'd share with an attorney than with a therapist — and the department cannot compel the chaplain to disclose it, cannot waive the privilege, and cannot access it through HR processes. That ironclad protection is not incidental to the chaplain's role. It is the foundation on which every meaningful conversation rests and trust is built.
Over 15 years of pastoral and chaplaincy experience — including service as a Naval Officer and Battalion Command Chaplain for a U.S. Marine Corps unit, providing spiritual care and crisis support to service members and their families through suicide, loss, trauma, and the demands of military service.
His background spans military, pastoral, academic, and institutional chaplaincy, crisis response, family care, and community formation. Coordinates with licensed mental health professionals for clinical care when needed.
- Master of Theology (Th.M.) — Dallas Theological Seminary
- U.S. Naval Reserve Chaplain, Lieutenant
- Professional Member — NIBIC
- CFC — Certified Fire Chaplain, Federation of Fire Chaplains
- CISM Certified — Critical Incident Stress Management
- CMFRC — Certified Military & First Responder Mental Health Coach (IBCC)
- BCAPC — Board Certified Advanced Pastoral Counselor (IBCC)
- CCCRC — Board Certified Christian Crisis Response Chaplain (IBCC)
- ICISF: Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention
- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
- Mental Health First Aid — Public Safety
If you need a chaplain,
start here.
Whether you're a department looking to embed a chaplain, a unit needing support, or an individual carrying something too heavy to carry alone — reach out.
General inquiries only. This form is not monitored as an emergency response channel. If there is immediate danger, call 911. If you or someone you know is in suicidal crisis, call or text 988.
Please do not include confidential medical, personnel, incident, or case details in this form. Use it only to begin a general conversation with Holdfast.
