A few months ago, Greg Shannon, the senior pastor at Chapel Hill Church, was talking to Henderson Police Department Deputy Chief Robert Shoultz during a break of a Wednesday night youth group session when he asked about a need for a chaplain at HPD.
“Funny thing, I was going to talk to you about this,” Shoultz said, according to Shannon.
Previous to that meeting, Mike Spivey the senior pastor at Zion Baptist Church, said he’d also inquired about serving as a chaplain to the force.
It wasn’t too long after that both Spivey and Shannon began their volunteer service as chaplains, which they say has been missing at HPD for 20-plus years.
Spivey said he believes the HPD officers will see them as their pastor in the coming months and years.
“They go through a lot mentally,” he said, adding they can use the pastors as a resource as needed.
Both Shoultz and Police Chief Billy Bolin worked to get the chaplains back at HPD.
“They see the need for it,” Shannon said.
“The stress of the job,” Shannon said. “It’s stress that you and I are rarely going to face.”
In the back of their minds, each call an officer takes “could be the last one.”
“Basically, they put their lives on the line every time they go out,” Shannon said.
Just a few months in their new roles, both pastors say the top priority is to build relationships. Shannon said he tries to show up at shift change, at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Spivey has gone on some ride-alongs with officers.
Building relationships, though, takes time, Spivey said. He knows that police officers are a tight group—forged by always watching each other’s backs—and sometimes, as an outsider, “it’s difficult to break in.”
Shannon came to Henderson last fall, starting his ministry at Chapel Hill in October. He’s got 30-plus years in the ministry.
Spivey has been in Henderson seven years. Spivey came from Georgia where in addition to leading a church, he also served as a chaplain for the Treutlen County Sheriff’s Department for six years. He’s been in ministry for 25-plus years, taking the lead of his first church when he was just 18 years old.
Both say success is built on relationships, and relationships are built on time and persistence.
“Keep showing up, keep being there,” Spivey said.
And just keep trying to be accessible, Shannon said. “That only occurs over time.”
This service as well as other service both do in the community is what they preach to their congregations.
“If I’m not willing to serve in the community, how can I ask my church members to?” Shannon said.
