It is with joyful mourning I share with you all that October 31st will be my last day as a full time chaplain with Braveheart. My family is moving to Pennsylvania and though there are a plethora of reasons why we are moving, one of the most exciting reasons is the growth of my wife’s music career in composing and conducting Sacred Arts music.  There are only about four life scenarios in which I would leave this position and this is one of them. 

To all the first responders and community members that have allowed me to walk down the road with them during their greatest struggles and triumphs – thank you.

My focus in writing this is not to dwell on my leaving, but rather to share with you the utter importance of a first responder chaplain and of Braveheart itself. Being a first responder chaplain has utterly shaped everything about me. It pushed me to the front lines of death, trauma, suffering, shaken-ness, trauma, despair, and also celebrations of life and joy. For nearly four years, I have been a student trying to learn what a first responder is and how they function in order to best help them. My goal was to exist in their world as much as possible in order to feel the hyper vigilance, intensity, and tiredness they endure. I have felt what it is like to get “triple-tapped” multiple times a day riding with an ambulance. I have been on scenes where you begin to battle with the looming feeling of the acute suffering in front of you. I know what it’s like to be at a rough suicide and then be at a dinner trying to make small talk an hour later. 

My appeal is to encourage support for first responders in their service and not just thank them.  Please do everything within your power to support Braveheart Chaplain Ministry, all the chaplains in their desire to be first responders to first responders, their families and all in this community. 

To all the first responders and community members that have allowed me to walk down the road with them during their greatest struggles and triumphs – thank you. You all bless me with such wonderful words about my presence and care, but I am the one who has benefited most from our many engagements and interactions. 

Thank you to the many chaplains that I have served along side in Braveheart. You have helped form me into a better chaplain. Thank you to the Braveheart Board, for taking a chance on a fella with a long beard, tattoos, and choice hats. Your trust and support has allowed me to serve others in a bold, radical way. Lastly, thank you to my friend, brother, and the creator of Braveheart, Drew Buckner. Drew has trained, built up, and set me loose to be a first responder chaplain in the Flathead Valley. I am nd will be forever thankful to Drew for allowing me to do this beautiful work. 

May God bless you all and grant you many years. 

Yours In Christ, 

Christopher Messenger

“With all your power, ask the Lord for humility and brotherly love, because God freely gives His grace for love towards one’s brother. Do an experiment on yourself: one day ask God for love towards your brother, and another day – live without love. You will see the difference.” 

—St. Silouan the Athonite