Organized corporate chaplaincy in the United States dates back to the 1940s, begun by retired Military Chaplains who saw similar needs in the real working world of Corporate America, as they had in the United States Military. However, Entertainment Chaplains had been supporting people in the Entertainment Industry for far longer. The first organized effort to support industry personnel dates back to the foundation of the Hollywood and the first silent movies. It was natural for those early producers and directors to reach out to the one dependable support system they knew would never let them down, when their actors and other staff needed help--chaplains.
In those early days of the Industry the first chaplains were pastors. Within a short time, however, individual studios and corporations began hiring staff chaplains in house. These pioneers in corporate chaplaincy were called upon for daily support and encouragement, as well as for crisis intervention and were often the first to be called in to help. Not being content to stay in Hollywood, they encouraged the early record producers and recording companies to provide on-the-road chaplains who traveled with groups of entertainers on tour.
Unfortunately, new laws often have unintended consequences, and in the early 1970s such was the case, and the Industry was forced to divest themselves of staff chaplains. Liability concerns brought an end to the widespread use of company employee chaplains, not just in the Entertainment Industry, but in corporations nation-wide.
The Entertainment Industry Chaplains was founded in early 2004 by an industry professional and entrepreneur who answered a calling to again offer genuine “Caring for Entertainers.”
The Entertainment Industry Chaplains employs full time, part-time, long term, career and volunteer chaplains who combine industry and workplace backgrounds with technical chaplaincy training. Although most of our Entertainment Industry Chaplains hold graduate degrees from accredited seminaries, all are required to continue their education, and partner with other chaplaincy organizations to provide the best on-going care possible.
The Entertainment Industry Chaplains is the first organization in the industry to:
- Provide organized, Industry-specific chaplaincy to entertainers in 35 years
- Build a process managed system to provide seamless integration of chaplaincy for Industry companies large and small, public and private. serves businesses in practically every industry classification. Some have as few as 1 employee, and others have in excess of 10,000.
The American free enterprise workplace today is both multi-cultural and extremely diverse spiritually. Although employing only Christian chaplains, The Entertainment Industry Chaplains is a non-denominational organization and pledges to care for all employees regardless of ethnic or faith background in a completely non-threatening manner. With literally tens of thousands of employees under chaplaincy care, neither The Entertainment Industry Chaplains, nor any other professional chaplaincy organization has ever encountered a complaint regarding a spiritual matter.
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