S: Celebrating 50 Years of Ministry
November 15, 2018
At the CRC Chaplains Conference this past June, chaplains stood to recognize Rev. Jim R. Kok who just retired after 50 years of chaplain ministry.
Jim's half century in ministry impacted thousands of people across the country. After his ordination in 1963, Jim spent several years serving as a hospital chaplain and then as a church pastor in Iowa City. Later, Jim came to Grand Rapids, MI to be a chaplain and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) instructor at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services. In 1984, Jim answered a call to be a pastoral counselor at Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA. He served there for over 30 years.
Jim's longevity in ministry is a testament to his ability to connect with other people. He stands 6'6" but his personality is even bigger. He is jovial and friendly and shows a genuine interest in every person he meets. For him, it is never about fixing problems or saying the right things, but being there for people in their times of need.
"Friendliness," he says in his book Transform Belief into Behavior, "is sharing the love of Jesus that is flowing through us. Nothing is more meaningful than giving Jesus' love." He adds, "Friendliness, whether it is my smile, a word of thanks, a visit, or treating another fairly, builds hope and happiness in a person's heart and opens him to God's love."
Jim's gift for connecting with people comes from his inherent ability to listen, a skill he has been able to share both with patients and pastors alike. As a CPE instructor, he was particularly skilled at verbatims (now called "pastoral encounters"), in which a chaplain would, without any notes, recount word for word an entire conversation with a patient. Verbatims were extremely challenging and formative, as they forced spiritual care providers to invest themselves fully in their interactions, and to critically look at everything they themselves said and did. "Pastors know how to preach and pray," said Jim, "but they don't always know how to listen." Through his training, many gained these skills.
Jim continued to share his gift for listening, writing a "question and answer" column for The Banner and later his first book, 90% of Helping is Just Showing Up. He has since written several other books, including The Pastoral Counseling Treatment Planner, which seminarians still commonly use to diagnose problems and set goals as they develop pastoral care skills.
Jim may have retired, but his ministry, and its influence, continue to impact the world. He has trained and guided hundreds of pastors and chaplains. He has touched the lives of thousands of people in crisis or spiritual distress. He has built strong communities of believers, sharing his knowledge, love, and care with those around him. Even now, he continues to lead an adult Sunday school class of around 100 people. He may have retired from ministry, but his ministry will never leave him or the lives he has touched.
Comments
Lou Wagenveld on November 15, 2018
Petite wife Linda doesn't come in for a mention in this otherwise great article about Jim.
James Dekker on November 20, 2018
Thanks to Jim for the CPE course I took at Pine Rest from September through December 1977. I was fresh out of seminary, just employed by then-CR World Missions, waiting for visas for Brazil (which never came). CPE was the first (not last) time that compassionate, passionate colleagues and mentors (Jim, Duane Visser) tore me and each other apart and put each other back together again. At first I dreaded the CPE discussions of our clinical work, pastoral and vocational implications. I'm quite sure that without that I wouldn't have stayed in ministry very long after returning from Latin America. CPE w/ Jim helped recognize significant gaps in self-awareness, how to find ways to fill those gaps and to recognize little hints of God's image/presence even in the most seriously ill of patients. That last beginning of life-long learning was certainly needed in pastoral ministry when parishioners' quirks and neuroses could flare into danger and trouble. In short in CPE I began to learn more deeply how to love both lovable and unlovable children of God--including myself in both categories. Thanks Jim Kok.
James Dekker on November 20, 2018
Thanks to Jim for the CPE course I took at Pine Rest from September through December 1977. I was fresh out of seminary, just employed by then-CR World Missions, waiting for visas for Brazil (which never came). CPE was the first (not last) time that compassionate, passionate colleagues and mentors (Jim, Duane Visser) tore me and each other apart and put each other back together again. At first I dreaded the CPE discussions of our clinical work, pastoral and vocational implications. I'm quite sure that without that I wouldn't have stayed in ministry very long after returning from Latin America. CPE w/ Jim helped recognize significant gaps in self-awareness, how to find ways to fill those gaps and to recognize little hints of God's image/presence even in the most seriously ill of patients. That last beginning of life-long learning was certainly needed in pastoral ministry when parishioners' quirks and neuroses could flare into danger and trouble. In short in CPE I began to learn more deeply how to love both lovable and unlovable children of God--including myself in both categories. Thanks Jim Kok.
Sarah Roelofs on November 26, 2018
In reply to Thanks to Jim for the CPE by James Dekker
James,
Thank you for sharing part of your story and how Jim's ministry and CPE equipped you in ministry.
Lisa Petersen on June 19, 2019
There is no way to thank Jim enough for the way he contributed to my life and ministry.
He shaped me during a very impressionable time in my life, and his words stick with me consistently. I took CPE with Jim at the Crystal Cathedral. Fourteen years later, I am now a hospital chaplain at a trauma center and in the ordination process with the Episcopal Church.
The task that Jesus has for us is simple: show care and kindness to those around you. Through this, lives are changed, people are healed and the Kingdom of God is realized. Thank you, Jim!
https://network.crcna.org/topic/leadership/chaplaincy/rev-james-r-kok-celebrating-50-years-ministry
