A new Police Chaplaincy Service has been launched by the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force (RSLPF) on the island of St Lucia in the Caribbean, with a population of around 180,000 people.
The pioneering initiative, headlined “Standing Strong in the Lord and His Mighty Power” (Ephesians 6:10) on the police force’s Instagram social media channel involved a lively inaugural ceremony on July 23, resplendent with lively worship and prayers of thanks to God.
Commissioner of Police Crusita Descartes Pelius, known as ‘Sister Pelius’ to her colleagues, who has worked in the island’s police service for 30 years, gave welcoming remarks at the commissioning ceremony.
In a YouTube video recorded by Cameron Browne Productions, Pelius is seen repeating the words of a worship song, “Light in the darkness, My God what a powerful God you are” as she started her welcome message.
“God is good, right?” asked the police commissioner to the event attendees. “And we must not do things just for crime fighting but we must do things to reap souls for the Lord because what we do on Earth we get paid there but what we do for the glory of God is for the other place, so let’s do God’s glory for that.”
Pelius called the launch of the dedicated chaplaincy a “momentous occasion”, following on from regular devotional services held for police officers every fortnight since Sept. 2020.
The aim of the dedicated chaplaincy, she said, is holistically addressing officers’ emotional, psychological and spiritual needs because a “happy officer” is more equipped to do his or her job well. She alluded to spiritual armor being as important for officers as physical firearms.
“This is indeed a momentous occasion. Scripture says if you lift up the Lord, He will lift you up and in these challenges times that we face, I can tell you, when people ask me the question how can I do it [policing], it’s not just my own [sic] it’s because of the grace of God.”
Pelius pointed out the spiritual realities and battles that frontline police officers face every day in St Lucia. This week a report leaked on social media revealed that death threats had been made against police officers on the island.
“I know we don’t fight for flesh and blood, so if we don’t fight flesh and blood when we face criminals or whoever it is when we [sic] break this law in this country, we don’t know what dwells in the vessels,” added Pelius at the ceremony.
“And we cannot fight on our own and expect to be successful if there is not a great being in the mix to fight with us and to protect us as we go out there and we don’t know what it is we are facing.
“And we go out there in our brokenness and sometimes we look firm and we think we can make it but sometimes we are broken indeed and we have to face other people to make life better for them. We can’t do this on our own – it’s by the grace of God and only by his grace.”
Policing is not merely a job, it is a vocation that requires extraordinary dedication, resilience and fortitude, Pelius said.
“Officers face a myriad of challenges daily from confronting crime and ensuring the safety of the public and the communities where we serve.
“These responsibilities are often accompanied by significant stress and emotional strain which can take a toll on our mental and physical well being and sometimes when we have given our all to our communities we need to go back to face our own families.
“If we don’t have a place to refill our cup, a spring of living water, there’s no way we can make it and I’m sure that there are some of you here that can testify to this and we need not be ashamed to speak about these things.
“We are not just physical, we are spiritual and we ought to understand this and the sooner we understand this the sooner we’ll be able to cope [with] the challenges that I can tell you it’s only by the grace of God that I can stand there and I shall not be moved.”
Pelius was joined at the ceremony by dignitaries including Permanent Secretary Dr. Elizabeth Bailey and Deputy Permanent Secretary Ricky Quinlan from the Ministry of Home Affairs, and members of the RSLPF’s executive. There were also representatives from the Saint Lucia Customs and Excise Department, Saint Lucia Fire Service, and church leaders from the Wesleyan Church, Revival Centre Ministry, and Redemption Ministries.
“The ceremony progressed, and Sergeant No. 70 Andre Marquis provided a brief history of the chaplaincy, tracing its origins and the evolution of its mission within the RSLPF,” stated the RSLPF Instagram post. “He noted the adoption of the term 'Officers in Christ' (OIC) as a symbol of the chaplaincy's spiritual focus, which is led by faith; a double entendre inspired by the RSLPF’s 'OIC,' an acronym referring to the 'Officer in Charge.’”
Inspector Denver Thomas gave a sermon on the pursuit of peace, according to reports, and the Royal Saint Lucia Police Band gave a live performance.
The event also included a “heartfelt testimony” by civilian chaplain Kurline George who is engaged in the police chaplaincy.
