SALT LAKE CITY — Chaplains are best thought of as behind-the-scenes healers who can be found wherever people are suffering, said Mark Allison, founder and president of the Salt Lake City-based World Spiritual Health Organization.
Chaplains are low-key religious figures, but so essential to the day to day operation of hospitals, law enforcement and military units, he said.
"When morale is low, who is there to pick up the pieces? Well, the chaplain," Allison explained.
About 100 people gathered Wednesday night at the William E. Christofferson Salt Lake Veterans Home as Allison, himself a chaplain, ceremoniously honored a dozen men and women who have completed their chaplaincy training.
Family and friends were treated to music and a reverent traditional blessing of the hands ritual, signifying the graduates' new role as spiritual advisers.
Eight of the graduates also received national certification in addition to graduating the World Spiritual Health Organization's program. All 12 who were honored Wednesday underwent at least a year of training, which included visiting no less than eight religious services of faiths besides their own.
"That’s the nature of chaplaincy, to serve anybody and everybody," Allison said. "They have to go through those hoops … to acclimate to (serving) a diverse population."
Devan Horlacher, 19, is the youngest chaplain to graduate from the program. Horlacher, who is preparing for an LDS mission to Kumasi, Ghana, said he originally became interested in chaplaincy because of his family's military background.
"I’ve always been interested in the spirituality of other faiths," Horlacher said. "(Becoming a chaplain) is really one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had."
Exposure to other faiths has been eye-opening and rewarding, he said.
Well-known religious artist Greg Olsen gave remarks at the ceremony and was honored as a "Master Artist of Inspirational Spiritual-Religious Art." Olsen told the Deseret News he was honored to be in the company of chaplains dedicated to religious service.
"These are some very unselfish people. They really have a desire to touch people’s lives," he said.
Olsen can relate to those who wish to become chaplains because of his own desire to leave a spiritual impression on people through his painting. Both efforts show others "there’s hope for those who are suffering and there’s a place they can look for peace and comfort when times are really difficult," he said.
Ricardo Aria, deacon of the Utah Catholic Diocese, was also honored by the World Spiritual Health Organization as a "pastoral care specialist."
The newly certified chaplains are: Ellen Bush Duncan, Thomas Nielson, Kym Oson, Orin Howell, Amber Thomas, Randy Kirton, Devan Horlacher, Otto Johansson, Sonya Adams, Marl Kastleman, Erin Nielsen and Tami Taylor.
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