CCA Annual Report 2020

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A N N U A L

LIFE CHANGING CARE

R E P O R T

ADDICTIONS

D E AT H

DEPRESSION

CONFLICT

STRESS

ABUSE

BECAUSE LIFE HAPPENS. CHILDREN

R E L AT I O N S H I P S

SUICIDE SICKNESS

ANXIETY

ANGER

WE ARE CHAPLAINS.

O U R M I S S I O N I S TO B U I L D C A R I N G R E L AT I O N S H I P S W I T H T H E H O P E O F G A I N I N G P E R M I S S I O N TO S H A R E T H E L I F E - C H A N G I N G G O O D N E W S O F J E S U S C H R I ST I N A N O N -T H R E AT E N I N G M A N N E R .

P R OV E N I M PAC T

2020

130,892

EMPLOYEES IN CARE

34,642

THROUGH THE YEARS

GOSPEL PRESENTATIONS

2,847

WORKPLACE MISSIONS

2019

2018

2017

# of Decisions for Christ

2,678

2,145

1,948

# of Gospel Presentations

29,367

23,974

22,019

DECISIONS FOR CHRIST

Employees in Care

126,889

116,268

105,840

1,483

1,293

1,176

1,560

229

206

196

WORKPLACE MISSION FIELDS

236

CHAPLAINS ON MISSION

# of Workplace Mission Fields # of Chaplains on Mission

3,438,332 EMPLOYEE TOUCHES (CHAPLAIN ROUNDS)

331,549 CARE SESSIONS

(CHAPLAIN ONE-ON-ONE)

86,312 EMPLOYEE CALLS TO CHAPLAINS *2020 NUMBERS

THROUGH THE YEARS

CHAPLAIN CONNECTION POINTS

Total Employee Touches (Chaplain Rounds)

Total Care Sessions (Chaplain One-on-One)

Employee Calls to Chaplains

2019

2018

2017

3,859,998 3,745,532 3,580,705 290,850

264,844

234,912

58,810

52,969

48,308

God is good.

I can state that emphatically, as I reflect on how God worked through Corporate Chaplains of America in 2020, even during a global pandemic, I do not doubt that He will do more than we can ask or imagine as we look to 2021 - our 25th year! I am so very thankful for the incredible year we have had. The number of people who were born again through the ministry of Corporate Chaplains totaled 2,847! Combining that with the scores of men and women who have rededicated their lives to Christ, we are grateful for each who made decisions to follow Christ. Celebrate with me the growing, collective impact these new believers have on their families, workplaces, communities, and local churches!

Each of these changed lives came through a Chaplain building a caring relationship, as tens of thousands of contacts and care sessions occurred, even in a pandemic world.

“CCA Chaplains were undaunted by social distancing and remote workers, as they spent 2020 building caring relationships to ser ve employees of our partner companies in ever y way possible.”

This year’s happenings have been challenging for many of us. We are not different from those we serve. All of us are sons of Adam or daughters of Eve. Pain and suffering from our ancestor’s original fall, is part of the human condition that we all share.

Our ministry’s beauty is that we offer the antidote, the vaccine, the solution for this fatal human defect, sin. While God does not promise or deliver a problem-free life, He does promise an isolation-free life. Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, in good times and in crisis.

These words are such good news for uncertain times. Even when we feel like our civilization’s bedrock may be sliding into the sea (Psalm 46:1-3), we know God’s purposes will stand no matter what the culture says or does. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. So, we do not need to be afraid.

As we enter our 25th year of ministry, we remember the grace of God shown to us in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). It is this grace that is the backbone of our ministry. I am so thankful for each of you - our family, partners, and friends for all that you do, and we are comforted to know that you are on this amazing journey with us!

The best is yet to come!

Larry

LETTER FROM THE CEO LARRY GRIFFITH

I immediately left went and found the employee and her one-year-old daughter in a bathroom. It was their safe haven after they been brutally beaten by her boyfriend. She and her daughter were bloody, but ok. I was able to call the authorities, take care of her on a whole different level and get her help the help she needed. I was able to care for this employee in a way that a CEO would not have been able to.

LACEY PEACOCK REGIONAL MANAGER

Because addiction happens.

Because domestic violence happens.

Because life happens.

WE ARE CHAPLAINS.

As the Board of Directors of Corporate Chaplains of America, we look back on this challenging year with our eyes focused clearly on the Sovereignty of God. According to the Scriptures, there is no doubt Who is in control.

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” Proverbs 27:1 “The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.” Proverbs 19:21 There is a phrase I’ve often heard which dates back to the 4th century. It has been attributed to St. Augustine, as well as Saint Ignatius, with John Wesley popularizing it - “Pray as though everything depends on God. Work as though everything depends on you.” - This phrase rings true for the CCA team.

2020 was a proving ground that tested CCA Chaplains in their commitment to our mission and vision.

“The body of proof as to how God has led, safeguarded, and guided the entire CCA team through a world-wide pandemic, economic downturn, and social and political unrest, is overwhelming.”

In a year where many businesses and ministries have struggled or even suspended operations, God allowed CCA to develop critical new expertise in virtual care of workers, while at the same time, gain new mission fields to serve. In part, because of these troubling times, we continue to see the fruit of hearts open to the Gospel!

Now in our 25th year, the CCA Board clearly sees the Sovereign hand of God, not merely sustaining Corporate Chaplains of America, but continuing to gather a collective of growth-minded, faithful men and women, to lead the ministry into the future.

St. Ignatius went on to say this: “You must have patience and not think that God our Lord requires what man cannot accomplish... but make a competent and sufficient effort, and leave the rest to Him who can do all He pleases.”

It was a year like 2020 which helped us realize anew that a Sovereign God birthed the mission of CCA twenty-five years ago. We are excited to know that He not only has the power to sustain this mission, but to grow our fruitfulness for the next twenty-five years.

Jeff

L E T T E R F R O M T H E B OA R D JEFF HILLES – CHAIRMAN

BECAUSE TRAGEDY HAPPENS..

“How could he do that? ” Marshall* thought as the news he had just heard began to settle in. His girlfriend, Sara, explained what could only be described as a horrific tragedy.

Sara’s brother had committed the unspeakable act of taking the life of his wife, their child, and then himself. The murder-suicide shook the entire community, but especially Marshall’s girlfriend, Sara.

Marshall was a believer in Jesus and was trying to appropriate this trauma through a Christ-centered worldview. But it was very hard. Over the week following this tragedy, Marshall was intentional about being strong for Sara, who was struggling. Without even being aware, Sara began taking her hurt and her grief out on Marshall. Their relationship was on the rocks as Marshall had come to the end of himself in meeting Sara’s needs.

Marshall had not taken any days off following the tragedy but continued to work as an autobody technician, spending his days repairing damaged cars. He often thought, “I wish I could repair Sara the way I did this car.” As he climbed into the driver’s seat and a coworker lend him a hand to push a freshly repaired car out of the garage, Walt, the Corporate Chaplain who served in the company, joined up to help push the vehicle.

“How’s it going?” Chaplain Walt asked as Marshall exited the parked car. “Not very well, Chaplain,” Marshall said as he began to explain what had consumed his life for the previous week. Walt and Marshall had previously talked about spiritual things before, and Walt was aware of Marshall’s commitment to Christ over the years.

Reflecting later on that conversation, Chaplain Walt said that Marshall was angry, hurt, afraid, frustrated, and completely at a loss for what to do.

Walt reminded Marshall of God’s promises in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. “...My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Walt asked Marshall if they could pray together after their twenty-minute conversation, and Marshall responded, “Sure, Chap.” After the prayer, Chaplain Walt noticed that Marshall’s eyes were full of tears. Marshall looked at Walt and said, “I think Jesus wants me to be patient with Sara. He just wants me to be patient.”

Chaplain Walt reflected on the powerful emotions, and the burden Marshall and Sara were carrying. “It was good to know that Jesus was speaking to him and guiding him through all of it. And I’m really glad I stopped to help push that car!”

Corporate Chaplains is honored to serve over 500,000 employees and their family members with life-changing care. Because tragedy happens. We are Chaplains.

DAV E C H R I S T E N S O N FORMER CEO of CONNEXUS CREDIT UNION Twenty-five years ago, J. David “Dave” Christenson became the CEO of Connexus Credit Union in Wausau, Wisconsin, and it wouldn’t take him long to realize his need for the work and hand of God in his workplace.

Through his early years of being CEO, Dave’s understanding of God began to change and so did his focus. “I began to ask; how can I bring Christ with me into the work world? I sensed He was saying that I needed to lead a company that took great care of its employees.”

Dave joined a C12 Group which exploded his understanding of leading a company for God’s glory. In his C12 Group, he also first learned about the mission and vision of Corporate Chaplains of America. Connexus had grown significantly, and Dave found it more challenging to know and care for the entire team and their families. So in 2015, Dave and the Connexus leadership engaged Corporate Chaplains of America to help care for their employees.

“We see in scripture how often that Jesus had compassion for people. He was a busy guy. The Pharisees and scribes and even the disciples were always saying, ‘Hey, let’s keep moving and doing’ and yet Jesus always made time for people. And that is, I think, the model that Corporate Chaplains has.”

THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL BUT THE LABORERS A R E F E W.

Dave shared about a time when a Connexus employee unexpectedly died. “As a CEO, even though I cared deeply, I was not trained to deal with these types of difficult situations. But, Robert Terrell, our Wausau based chaplain, was able to immediately provide leadership and care in the unique circumstances, especially grief counseling. It took such a burden off of my leadership team and me to know that our employees had that kind of resource available. And sometimes, people would come into a saving relationship with Christ, and that’s just amazing!”

On May 1, 2020, Dave retired as CEO of Connexus Credit Union after sensing it was time to move on to something new. Now, Dave desires to draw close to family and unleash as many resources as possible into the Kingdom.

Since his retirement, Dave has continued his partnership with CCA as a builder. He shared, “As I keep getting older, I feel more like Peter, who described himself as a stranger and alien in this world. Heaven’s my home, and Gretchen and I want to be involved with organizations committed to the love and care for people and share the Gospel...

God truly uses CCA to reach lost people and model compassion as they work to emulate Jesus Christ. CCA produces eternal fruit, and we get the blessing to see this fruit while we’re still here!”

30%

OF NON-BELIEVERS OPEN TO SPIRTUAL CONVERSATIONS SAID THEY WOULD PREFER THEM HAPPEN VIRTUALLY.

CONNECTIONS T H AT M AT T E R IN A VIRTUAL W O R L D.

In 2020, there was tremendous growth in technological platforms. This growth, combined with the worldwide pandemic, limited our personal connections and thrust us into an explosion of virtual communication with one another. 2020 will go down as the year we pivoted from in-person communication to virtual communication platforms to maintain our connection to people we had not seen in person for months.

It’s astounding to consider the different platforms I’ve used, just in the last two weeks to build relationships with employees.

We live in a world that offers us a profusion of digital communication to work with, and most are very simple to use. CCA’S goal is to communicate the timeless message of the Gospel through the multitude of new options available to us, and many have called this “Virtual Chaplaincy.”

When I first started working at CCA, I was amazed to hear stories of how fellow chaplains invested in relationships with employees and sought permission to share the Gospel. I remember these stories because of the sacrifices these chaplains had made to minister to their employees. I serve among giants of sacrifice in ministry - our CCA Chaplains. These are the men and women who intentionally live outside their comfort zones to build relationships and share the Gospel. With all its new options, the virtual world is merely another way CCA can do that.

Thanks to the Barna Research Group, we have data confirming that “Virtual Chaplaincy” is creating new opportunities to achieve our mission.

P E O P L E A R E M O R E O P E N TO V I R T U A L S P I R T U A L C O N V E R S AT I O N S THAN EVER BEFORE. CCA is committed to understanding best practices and utilizing as many new virtual platforms as possible to fulfill our mission. When 30% of the employees would rather talk about faith digitally, that's what we do. 2020 gave us the proving ground for just how productive we can be in virtual platforms to connect with people.

For us whose mission is to communicate the Gospel, the key has always been to be in love with the message that we are spreading, the message of the One we love, and not necessarily the technology we use to spread that message. And we promise we'll never stop using technology to proclaim the Gospel personally. It is just who we are.

One day, Brian Ayers received a phone call that changed the tragectory of his entire life.

He was in seminary studying to be a youth pastor when a man from his church called and told his wife about Corporate Chaplains of America. He said they were looking for chaplains, and he thought Brian would be a good fit. The job he described sounded perfect for Brian. He immediately thought, “This is why I’m in seminary!

From that day on, any time anybody asked Brian, “What are you going to do when you finish seminary?” He answered, “I am going to be a Corporate Chaplain.”

Brian was hired as CCA’s eighth full-time Chaplain, and relocated to Charlotte in 1999. Brian quickly acclimated, and in a few years as CCA continued to grow, Brian was asked to take on additional roles. He shared, “At one point, I was caring for about 600 employees and managing twenty-seven chaplains.”

Soon, the call came for Brian to move to Wake Forest and join the corporate leadership team as the Associate Vice-President of Operations to build the team further. In 2017, Brian was invited

by CEO Larry Griffith to become CCA’s Chief Operations Officer.

The year 2020 gave Brian amplified opportunities to lead. “2020 taught us that God had not taken His hand off the workplace. God did amazing things in amazing ways. People came to faith in Christ, and CCA brought on new mission fields in the midst of 2020. Even though it was a tough year, when the smoke cleared, God reminded us He’s not done with us!”

Reflecting on one of the most significant changes CCA experienced in 2020, Brian said that the chaplain team advanced in expertise at excellence in virtual chaplaincy. “Our chaplains have extensive training in navigating emotional, personal, and intimate conversations, but without seeing their faces, it’s taken new skills to be effective. We’ve had to adjust and learn.” Brian says CCA has grown in our understanding and responses to employees in a virtual environment.

When asked about companies CCA served who were dramatically impacted by the pandemic and economic downturn, Brian said, “We saw about 70 companies have to pause chaplaincy due to financial impact of the pandemic, and that affected about 10,000 employees. In almost every case, we were able to keep the chaplains in place serving those companies, and we are grateful for the donors who came alongside us in 2020 to keep those chaplains in place at a time when those employees needed us the most.”

As we launch into our 25th year of ministry, Brian shared that he is so thankful to work for a group of people who are passionate about serving America’s workplaces and growing the Kingdom.

“I am thankful for our team and for the companies who trust us to partner with them to help them create lifechanging care in the workplace.”

IN 2020, WE BECAME EXPERTS IN VIRTUAL CARE.

B EC A U S E E M P LOY E E S A R E H U RT I N G .

The workplace is America’s largest untapped mission field.

Stephen Wright realized this during a C-12 Group meeting in 2010. He also knew that he, as a business owner, had a stewardship opportunity to develop new ways to help and care well for his employees. Not long after then, he invited Corporate Chaplains of America to help serve Wright Brothers Construction Company’s employees.

Stephen says placing a chaplain to serve the company’s employees turned out to be utterly different from some of his perceptions. He shared, “It’s been so encouraging to me to experience the work of CCA and their excellence at caring for people, building relationships and trust. It’s not somebody standing in the corner with a megaphone preaching the Gospel. It doesn’t work that way!”

Early in CCA’s tenure with Wright Brothers Construction, a project was running in rural Southwest Virginia. One of the project managers on that site had a heart attack and was near death. Revived on a life-flight helicopter ride to the hospital, CCA had a chaplain there for the employee and the family even though he was taken to a hospital in a different state.

The project manager was in an induced coma and on a ventilator for three weeks when doctors finally shared with the family that the hope of survival was small. As they reduced the medically induced coma, the employee became alert, aware, and communicated by sticking out his tongue to affirmatively answer the chaplain’s questions.

The chaplain received permission to share the Gospel with the man, and when asked if he was willing to accept Christ, he stuck out his tongue! Thirty minutes later, he died. “I think back on that situation with great peace. It was a completely unexpected outcome for me. I sensed we were good stewards, doing all we could do in that situation to care for the employee and his family and our leadership team,” Stephen said. “It’s amazing what can happen when you truly care for people, listening to them, hearing them, and responding to make sure they know they are valued.”

Recently, Stephen spent time reviewing the summarized activity report for all of Wright Brothers Construction’s employees for the entire year of 2020. He was utterly stunned by what he saw. Sharing with a peer group, Stephen said, “Over time, I have watched as our country’s moral fiber continues to deteriorate and our employees find themselves in ever increasingly difficult situations. There is tremendous hurt out there.

I bet employees are hurting in every company. How about yours?”

Corporate Chaplains of America is honored to have served the healthy and hurting employees at Wright Brothers Construction Company since March 2011.

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