Senior Chaplain Lyle Prather

As a graduate of Berean School of the Bible, Lyle was ordained in the Assembly of God is 1981. As a local pastor, he played an instrumental role in 1983 in the birth of Cowlitz Chaplaincy serving as a volunteer chaplain until 1985 when he was called to serve as full-time Senior Chaplain/Director. Lyle earned a PhD in counseling in 1990 and is a licensed Clinical Pastoral Counselor with the National Christian Counselors Association. He holds memberships in the National Board of Christian Clinical Therapists, International Conference of Police Chaplains, and the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation.
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Assistant Chaplain Steve White

An ordained Baptist minister, Steve served local churches in the NW for 24+ years. In March 2002 he began as a volunteer chaplain with the Longview PD. Steve began full-time chaplaincy work in July 2003 and now works with Longview, Kelso, and Castle Rock PD’s as well as Longview FD. Steve has extensive training in Critical Incident Stress Management, is “CIT” certified and a member of the International Conference of Police Chaplains (certified Basic Chaplain), the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and the NW CISM Network. He remains active in the local church and Ministerial Association.

Volunteer Chaplain Larry Bennett

Larry was ordained to ministry in 1984 and first began chaplain work with the Washington State Department of Corrections in 1986. For the past 5 years he has been a volunteer chaplain with Cowlitz Chaplaincy working mainly with rural Fire Departments in the county. He also volunteers as a firefighter with District 5 Fire in Kalama. Larry is a member of the International Conference of Police Chaplains and the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Larry works as a ‘pastor to pastors’ with American Missionary Fellowship.

We currently have three (3) Chaplain positions. The Senior Chaplain and Assistant Chaplain are paid positions (raise their own support), and Volunteer Chaplain. The basic requirements for each position are the same:

• Be a licensed or ordained minister (as defined by IRS regulation) with a minimum of 5-years pastoral experience.
• Be a person who has a reputation above reproach both morally and financially in accordance with commonly accepted Christian standards.
• Be willing to be ‘on-call’ 24 hours per day during scheduled times each month
  Able to relate well to men and women in Emergency Services and maintain confidentiality to gain their respect.
• Must have a demonstrated ability to provide spiritual guidance and support from a non-denominational basis, but based on Christian biblical principles.
• In addition, we require chaplains to complete the Citizen’s Police Academy within 2-years and additional training as offered from time to time.