Religious pluralism is not merely an academic topic. There are real world consequences when religion moves into the American workplace. Here's what a local television station broadcast in 2007 over the design of a police chaplain uniform patch: 

from Letters to the Editor – January 2002 edition of the ICPC newsletter    

Dear Editor of ICPC Newsletter,

I just read the December 2001 edition and noted two instances of criticism directed to­ward fellow chaplains (presumably Chris­tian, but I don’t know) who are apparently in violation by engaging in evangelism. Would you explain this further? Specifically, what did they do that you deem wrong?

When we consider the great privilege that is ours as Christians to spread the Good News of God’s love in Jesus, as the angels did that first Christmas, then we realize that evangel­ism has always been, and still is, the work of believers as they bring that Good News of the Gospel to people who face sin, death, and condemnation each day.

I hope that the ICPC is not trying to re­strict our Christian witness by dictating the content of prayers, conversations, speeches, counseling or other work by chaplains, but by reading your newsletter I can’t help but get that feeling. Being pluralistic means that in our work as chaplains we allow for ex­pression of all religions, including Christian­ity which confesses that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6.) It would seem to me that ICPC needs to be less sensi­tive to those with a distinctive Christian wit­ness and should be more tolerant of their be­liefs and practices.

--Chaplain Donald Jordan  

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Retired Executive Director Dave DeRevere replied:

ICPC does not ask anyone to water down his or her faith. But it does preach respect for all people and their beliefs.

Chaplaincy differs from being a pastor in that it is primarily a ministry of presence. Our role as a chaplain is to serve, not preach. We are a witness to our faith by our doing, caring and loving. When an officer asks why we do what we do, then the door is open to share our faith.

Perhaps the following will help. It was writ­ten by Chaplain Jerry Montgomery.

“ICPC is not a Christian-only organization; it serves chaplains from all religious tradi­tions and is committed to serving the needs, especially in a moment of crisis, of every officer and every citizen when our services are requested.

“Chaplains serve the needs of every officer and every member of the public. In today’s world, a chaplain advocating a particular religious perspective while working within a public agency probably would be in very hot legal water with his or her chief and the local chapter of the American Civil Liber­ties Union.

“Serving the needs of a Muslim, Jewish, Roman Catholic, Baptist, or mainline Protestant officer or citizen is dif­ficult under the best of circumstances. Hurt­ing or confronting them with a different re­ligious perspective will cause problems. If a complaint were filed because that religious perspective was found to be offensive, all chaplains will be impacted negatively.

“In my several decades of chaplaincy and ministry, I never have found it necessary to tell anyone about my own religious experi­ence, even though once in a while I find myself in an opportunity where I could initi­ate an evangelism conversation. I’m not sell­ing a religion, I’m serving the needs of a hurting person so I never worry about ‘sales totals’ and I never initiate an evangelism con­versation.. This does not diminish my Chris­tian commitment; it strengthens it. My ordina­tion vows included a vow to serve persons of other faith traditions, including those of no re­ligious faith.

“Once a crisis is past, my service to them is completed and trust is established, those offi­cers and citizens who are at a point of asking may ask - and sometimes do - about the source of strength that undergirds my service to them. My service to them probably was secular and practical in nature; the reason why I do such work is a separate issue. When they ask, I’m delighted.

"I've concluded that:

“When they ask, it’s legal.

"When I pray with them be­fore they ask, for example, my actions probably are illegal.

“One of the reasons I am so committed to. ICPC is that in the years of my membership, I’ve learned from so many other chaplains that they, too, have come to that same basic conclu­sion as a result of their practice of this special­ized ministry. The conclusion is true for Jew­ish chaplains, Roman Catholic chaplains, Mus­lim chaplains, Lutheran and United Church of Christ chaplains, and Southern Baptist and Evangelical Free Methodist chaplains.

When any of us serve an officer or citizen; we all work alike, we all help alike. Our service to them is witness of the strength of our faith. We don’t need to say anything at all.

“Forgive me for going on so long, but I think this is an important issue that each one of us must address as we serve our officers and com­munities. It is so important for officers and citizens to have the support of a chaplain avail­able to them during an hour of crisis. Keep on doing the good work!”