Rev. Richard E. James, Bcc Email & Phone Number

Rev. Richard E. James proclaims; “First and foremost I am, a human being created in the image of God, an African-American male, a person of faith, a child of God through Jesus Christ, a member of the Christian Church, called to follow Jesus as a disciple in Christian ministry.” He is a member, commissioned, and endorsed by the Federation of Christian Ministries, and a Board Certified Chaplain of the Association of Professional Chaplains.” He is currently fulfilling his calling to God by serving as Staff Chaplain, in the Emergency Department at Advocate Christ Medical Center (ACMC), where he has served for the past 21 years. His most influential life experiences are; academic reflection, at Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS); experiential learning and growth during Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), and as Supervisor In Training (SIT) and years of ministerial experience as Staff Chaplain at ACMC, in addition to his ministry as former Senior Pastor at Lincoln Memorial Congregational United Church of Christ, where he served for ten years. These experiences bestowed theoretical and practical skills. For example, at CTS Richard developed his theology of Divine benevolent intent, and his theoretical model for doing ministry; The Experiential Narrative Journey, both resources assisting his efforts to engage persons within contextual circumstances. On the other hand, CPE and SIT enhanced the quality and effectiveness of his pastoral presence with patients, families, medical staff and students, by offering the opportunity to increase and integrate self-awareness and knowledge of the pastoral and educator roles. Rev. James says, “My belief in God’s providential presence is the grounding conviction and the germinating seed of my ethic of benevolent intent, the Divinely inspired concern and respect for the well-being of persons. My passion for this theological ethic is manifested by bringing the gospel to intersect the human experience in a practical, meaningful manner.”