Divine Milestone: VA chaplains serve with doctoral distinction
POPLAR BLUFF, Missouri — The chaplains at the VA Poplar Bluff Health Care recently reached a milestone that puts them into rare, if not exclusive, company — both have earned their Doctorate of Divinity degrees.
“While we can’t say with 100% certainty, we don’t know of any other VA with its entire Chaplain Services team holding doctorate degrees,” said John J. Pershing VA Medical Center Director Paul Hopkins.
“This level of dedication to excellence is exemplary,” added Physician Chief of Staff, Dr. Michael Thornsberry. “We are now doubly blessed at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center to have both of our chaplains to have earned the Doctor of Ministry degree.”
"We’re very proud of the fact that here we are, a small little facility, and we’re 100% staffed by doctorates,” said Chaplain Bruce Wareing. “I’ve not seen that anywhere else.”
Wareing, an Air Force Veteran, has served in his role at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center for 6 years. He previously served in a civilian law enforcement position, working with canines, before moving to VA.
Wareing earned his Masters of Arts in Religion and Biblical Studies in 2006 from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and his Masters of Divinity in 2010. He earned his Doctorate of Ministry in May through VA’s Mental Health Integration for Chaplain Services Program, with accreditation through Vanderbilt University.
His doctorate focus, Wareing said, was integrative chaplaincy, which integrates mental health into chaplaincy.
Chaplain Rafael Machuca, a Marine Corps Veteran, has served at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center for 5 years. Before coming to VA, he worked in the private medical sector.
“I thought about becoming a chaplain during my second year in the Marine Corps,” Machuca recalled. He attended Gateway College of Evangelism in St. Louis, Missouri, and then the Assembly of God Theological Seminary in Springfield, Missouri, where he earned his Masters of Divinity in 2007.
While working at a medical facility in Joplin, Missouri, Machuca returned to the Assembly of God Seminary and earned his Doctorate of Ministry in 2020. His focus, he said, was “identifying signs of spiritual distress.”
Both, they said, love serving Veterans. “I feel a connection with Veterans because some of the stuff we have in common. I really enjoy trying to support and help Veterans,” Wareing said.
“It’s a blessing to connect with Veterans when they come in because they are part of the community and they have served their country,” added Machuca. “It’s good to let them know they are not alone and that there are Veterans working here and using the services here as well.”
The pair provides spiritual assistance through a wide range of means, including several support groups like grief recovery, moral injury support, addiction recovery, and more. They also provide counseling for anyone in need, and support for Veteran patients in the facility’s Community Living Center.
“People think we just go upstairs and pray and come back down, but there’s a lot more than that. We’ve got our hats in a lot of areas,” Machuca insisted.
They frequently travel to see patients, both in their homes and at the medical center’s community-based outpatient clinics in Southeast Missouri and Northeast Arkansas, and its Cape Girardeau VA Health Care Center.
They also operate the main facility’s chapel, where the door is always open. There, a non-denominational service is held at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday morning.
The duo works closely with staff physicians, who many times refer patients for their services, and they have a strong working relationship with community churches. “We do 2-way referrals with community churches,” said Wareing. “We can refer Veterans if they need something we can’t provide, or they can be referred to us. Having that relationship really broadens what we can offer.”
And, not only do the chaplains support the facility’s Veteran patients, but they also provide spiritual assistance to employees. “Sometimes staff are dealing with their own life struggles, so it is an opportunity to provide support to them as well,” Machuca said.
Personalized spiritual help, both said, is something they take pride in every day.
“One of the best parts of working at Poplar Bluff and us being so small is it gives us the opportunity to be available to respond to those requests,” Wareing noted. “We don’t have to rush, and if somebody needs to talk to us and it takes an hour and a half, we spend an hour and a half. We can be much more personal and responsive.”
For information about Chaplain Services and other programs at the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center, call 573-686-4151 or visit the facility’s website at https://www.va.gov/poplar-bluff-health-care/.