Sheriff appoints chaplains

By Rob Alway
Editor-in-Chief

LUDINGTON — Sheriff Kim Cole has appointed two local pastors as the department’s chaplains. Pastor Tim Yankee of Calvary Baptist Church in Pere Marquette Township and Pastor Henrik Lidman of Prayer and Praise Assembly of God in Ludington were recently sworn in to the volunteer positions.

Sheriff Cole performed the swearing in ceremonies in the pastors’ respective churches on a recent Sunday morning.

“I chose pastors Yankee and Lidman because of their involvement in the community,” Cole said. “I grew up at Calvary Baptist but no longer attend the church. However, I have a huge amount of respect for Pastor Yankee and the work he and his congregation do. I have only gotten to know Pastor Lidman recently but I know he and his congregation have a heart for Mason County.”

Cole said the chaplain positions will be active positions rather than ceremonial. “I want these two to be involved with this department. It is important that the men and women of this department are taken care of. They not only have to be physically fit for the job but their mind and heart also need to be in the game. The staff at the sheriff’s department is committed to protect the people of Mason County. The chaplain’s role will be to protect our staff.”

“This is an honor to me,” Yankee said. “It is truly an honor knowing there are others in the community who could do this role, so I am humbled by it.”

Yankee said he is looking forward to being available to provide any type of assistance or guidance to the sheriff’s department personnel. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people in this office.”

Lidman echoed Yankee’s words and said he too was honored and humbled.

“I look forward to serving the department,” Lidman said. “I have a lot of respect for the leaders and protectors of our community. It’s an honor to be a part of this.”

Cole said the chaplains are not jail ministers nor are they part of the Victim’s Assistance Unit. “Their role is to help the employees. There are local ministers who do an outstanding job seeing to the needs of the inmates — in fact Pastor Yankee is part of the jail ministry, but that’s a different hat. Also, if the need arises, local pastors are involved with accompanying deputies and Victim’s Assistance volunteers in times of notifying families of deaths. But, again, that’s not the role of the chaplains.”

It is not unusual for a deputy to face several different scenarios during a shift, Cole said. “The scenarios can be from a minor situation to several extremely serious incidences such as a fatal accident or shooting. Each of these situations are serious to the persons involved, as they are to the deputies. But, the deputies have to drive away and shut off the last incident as they move on to the next one. The chaplains can be available for the deputies to talk to and deal with those situations.”