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At this conference there was much discussion on the use of Chaplains in Care Centers. The president of CFCCM is a Chaplain and some of the members are Chaplains. One of the members operates a Chaplain network called “Nursing Home Ministries, Inc.” in Portland, Oregon. It was at this conference the Lord put in Rev Don and Sharon's hearts a desire to develop a Biblically-based teaching program to train Chaplains. The curriculum had be Christ-centered and Holy Spirit empowered. Too many Chaplains were being trained with a mixture of the Bible and New Age teachings. This curriculum had to be 100% Biblically based. 

1. What kind of responsibilities do Chaplains have towards ministering to care center residents? To their staff? To their families?
2. How are the responsibilities different between staff Chaplains and volunteer Chaplains?
3. What can be done to help care centers hire Christian Chaplains?
4. What avenues of Chaplaincy training are available?
5. What Avenues for credentials are available for Chaplains?

 They became very discouraged when they found the answers to questions No. 4 & 5. 

Most accredited programs required: 

• Master of Divinity degree from a recognized school of theology
• Ordination as a clergyman from a recognized faith group/denomination
• Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) four units/1600 hours, accredited by the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education. 

Most of these Accredited programs did not have a Biblically based teaching program available. 

It would take too many years for the average adult to go thru these programs. 

So, after much research they decided to put the Chaplain program on the shelf. 

Rev Don and Sharon attended another CFCCM conference in Portland Oregon August of 2008. This was the sixth annual conference they had attended. These conferences provided them with information on how other Care Center Ministries were recruiting and training their volunteers, how they were doing one on one discipleship to Care Center residents, and how to improve relationships in this fellowship. 

This conference had many Chaplains in attendance as its main focus was on the use of Chaplains in Care Centers. One of the Chaplains who spoke was in his 80’s. He talked about his experiences during his 40 years as a Chaplain. They had no doubt that God sent him to this conference to resurrect His calling to develop a curriculum to teach and train Chaplains. They also knew that the Chaplains would have to operate out of a church and that the church would be their spiritual covering and base of operations. 

The next month Rev Don and Sharon took a week off and stayed at a friend's condo in Palm Springs Calif. During that week they put together a detailed outline of a biblical curriculum designed to train Chaplains. They read and re-read all of the research documents they had gathered over the past 4 years. The Holy Spirit took over after they gave up struggling for two days trying put something together. The outline then came together very quickly with His help and guidance.

Over the next 3 months they put together and published the first of four textbooks. 

Rev Don and Sharon held their first class called “The Making of a Chaplain” in January of 2009. They were surprised that 30 people were interested in taking the class. 

The first class started with 27 students and out of that class 18 graduated. Dream City Church Phoenix held a graduation ceremony during a Sunday evening service. Fourteen of the graduates entered the Chaplain Internship Program. 

The second class started in January 2010 with 35 students and 2011 began with 35 students.  There was a long waiting list. 

New class began in Flagstaff, Arizona, being led by Chaplain.... was being taught in Flagstaff with 22 students from a local church.  Other churches had also purchased the curriculum and began teaching the program locally

Just before the pandemic, the program became available over the internet, and the vision of having a Chaplain in every zip code (there are 42,000 zip codes) became a REAL possiblitiy.