The Starke County Sheriff’s Office has announced the addition of a new chaplain.
Pastor James Adcock of the Bible Baptist Church is giving of his time and talent to work specifically with officers. He says it’s a new concept for the department, “I’m actually the first Starke County chaplain that we know of, as far as just to the police officers. There are other chaplains for the inmates, but I’ll be one specifically just for the officers and the Sheriff’s Department.”
Pastor Adcock says he’s excited about the opportunity to help the officers however he can, “Part of my duty will be praying for them, just being there for them if they need to talk about anything. If they have family issues, they can talk to me confidentially. If they just need to vent about a certain case, or talk about anything personally or about the job, I’m there to listen and keep their confidentiality and just help them through it.”
He says there’s recently been a lot of negativity directed at law enforcement from the American public, “I’d like to come in and help them work through that, as well as set a good example trying to help them strive to be the best they can for our community, even better than what they already are. I’d like to be there to try to heal marriages. Police officers and sheriff deputies have one of the highest-stress jobs there is, and if I come in and help them with their marriage or help them with their finances or help them personally, whether they’re dealing with depression or just discouragement over a case, and I can give them a hand, I think that would be a huge help to our community.”
Pastor Adcock is starting as chaplain this week.
