I just heard it today. Another chief was talking about a chaplain who only showed up at "special" events like the banquet or had an agenda to win everyone to their faith. He was telling me how this person was quickly shunned by not only the firefighters but by the other chaplains as well. The question I have for the fire service is, when are we going to get rid of these banquet chaplains? When are we going to finally take off the department rolls those chaplains who haven't integrated into the fire service or have their own agenda?

Just like being a firefighter or paramedic, fire chaplaincy is a professional job and deserves to be treated that way. It deserves to be treated like that by the command staff, and it most certainly deserves to be treated like that by the chaplain.

So let me be blunt. If you aren't making it to calls (where your SOP's allow), aren't spending time with your firefighters, not going to drills and participating, not at least learning CPR and basic medical first-aid, not learning about the fire service, and most definitely not continuing to grow in your profession…what the heck are you doing here? Are you just in it for the cool badge and polo?

Now, I do understand that there are circumstances that for some of you don't allow you to do some of those things….such as medical reasons. I'm not talking to all of you. I'm talking to the rest of you. When you and I get grouped in together because we are both "fire chaplains", I have to spend my time explaining to people what a real, professional, fire chaplain is.