Last month, I had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker for a group of chaplains in Lexington, Kentucky. Not just any group of chaplains, mind you. This interesting group minister to those who work in the horse racing industry.
At first pass, you might misunderstand what race track chaplaincy is. They don’t minister to the people who come to bet on horse racing. That’s what they would call the “front side” of the track. Race track chaplains, in contrast, minister to those on the “back side” the track. That is, all the people behind the scenes that the television cameras don’t see: the people who take care of the horses, the grounds, and all the other behind-the-scenes workers. Many are immigrants, often Hispanic. In addition to the workers, targeted ministry also includes their families, as many live on-site.
Many of the chaplains I met were bi-vocational, either working a secular job or pastoring a traditional congregation, in addition to their chaplaincy duties at the track.
There are lots of personal stories I could tell from my time with them. Suffice it to say these are folks who don’t get a lot of attention in the limelight, and most have precious few resources to accomplish their task. But, they all have a few things in common: they love horses and horse racing, they love God, they want to see people added to the Kingdom and they want to see those who are suffering ministered to in Jesus’ name.
I don’t do a lot of travel these days because of the age of our young kids (four and almost three). However, I really enjoy helping ministers pursue healthy self-care by encouraging them to pursue practical ways to sustain long-term effectiveness in ministry.
If you know a Christian denomination, para-church organization or minister group interested in having me as a speaker on healthy self-care in ministry, please pass along my contact information or website.
This is a part of my job I really love being able to do.
