Pastor aims to support responders

A Flathead County minister is hopeful he can transition from being a leader of a congregation to becoming a full-time chaplain for local emergency responders.

Drew Buckner, 49, pastored Harvest Baptist Church in Kalispell for seven years before leaving the church to become a full-time chaplain.

The Longview, Texas, native moved to Flathead County with his wife Brenda in 2001. He has been a pastor for 21 years.

In 2005, he began volunteering as a chaplain for the Kalispell Fire Department. Three years later he expanded his ministry and began volunteering at the Kalispell Police Department. He’s one of five clergymen who have provided services to the departments on a volunteer basis, he said.

Buckner wants to provide increased support for law enforcement officers and firefighters through a recently formed nonprofit organization created to support himself. Braveheart Chaplain Ministry already has the support of Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset and Kalispell Fire Chief Dan Diehl.

Nasset said chaplains fill an important role within the departments, from providing a listening ear for officers to joining them on scene in cases of unattended deaths or other tragedies. He said that officers believe their jobs are sometimes left undone when leaving mourning citizens.

Chaplains, he said, can both support law enforcement and help them complete the mission of serving the public.

“You can’t build that trust unless they are out there seeing what the guys do on the street,” Nasset said. Buckner said the only way to gain that experience and be on call when needed was to form the nonprofit and raise his own financial support.

He said he sees his role in the two departments as a way of ministering, though it doesn’t mean his aim is to convert or preach.

“Part of being a chaplain is learning to support people where they are, wherever that might be,” Buckner said.

Diehl said the chaplains also allow for personnel to communicate feelings and ideas they might not be comfortable bringing to administration.

“We’d be the last ones to know in some cases,” he said.

Buckner would like to expand the ministry to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, which provides coroners for all fatalities in the county. Chuck Curry, who is running unopposed for sheriff in the Nov. 2 general election, said it’s an idea he would consider.

“It’s important certainly to have someone that understands law enforcement and some of the issues they face,” Curry said.

Buckner has a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a master’s of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and recently completed the Fire and Police Chaplain Training Academy in Burien, Wash.

He said his new role utilizes much of what he’s learned in his role as a pastor.

“I feel I can be effective and used for this,” he said. “There is a great need for it.”

Donations and letters can be sent to Braveheart Chaplain Ministry at 650 Fifth Ave. W. N., in Kalispell. Buckner can be reached by e-mail at chaplaindrew@centurytel.net.