About Chaplain Steve Ballinger
Chaplain Steve was on staff at Harvest Christian Fellowship as an associate pastor for 15½ years. Prior to entering into full-time ministry, he was employed with the Riverside City Fire Department for 19½ years. He was a firefighter for eight years, and a fire suppression captain for 11½ years.
Chaplain Steve knows the type of society that the men and women of law enforcement and the fire service have to deal with on a daily basis. He understands how discouraged they can become on the job. He knows how jaded they can become towards those they care for and love the most—their family. He is very familiar with the effects their job can have upon them and their family members. He is acquainted with the anger that can arise as they see the tragic aftermath of a drunk driver, or the results of a domestic violence call. He has experienced the stress of having to deal with personnel problems on the job. He can identify with the difficulty in performing their job. His desire is to help these men and women perform better both in the workplace and at home.
Chaplain Steve was a chaplain with the Riverside Sheriff Department for three years prior to taking on the lead chaplain position for the Riverside Police Department and Riverside Fire Department. He is also a chaplain with OES. He is a member of the Cal-Fire Chaplain Corps, Southern California Chaplain Association (SCCA), International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC), and International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), International Fellowship of Chaplains (IFOC), National Center for Chaplain Development (NCCD), The Counseling Team International (TCTI), and the BGEA Rapid Response Team.
Chaplain Steve has received hundreds of hours of training in and is certified in Critical Incident Stress Management, including four certificates of Specialized Training. He has been trained in Basic and Advanced Critical Intervention Stress Management — Crisis Intervention and Peer Support — Suicide Prevention and Intervention — How to Deal with Line-of Duty-Deaths — Basic and Advanced Pastoral Crisis Intervention — Domestic Violence — Domestic Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction — Responding to a School Crisis — CISM Application With Children — Domestic Violence — Death Notification — Post Trauma Syndrome — Grief Following Trauma — Emotional and Spiritual Care — Compassion Fatigue.
Chaplain Steve is a volunteer member of The Counseling Team International (TCTI) which responds to critical incidents across the country to assist in debriefings after a line-of-duty-death or other major crisis. He has been directly involved with line-of-duty-deaths of police officers and firefighters from different agencies (Riverside Police Department, Riverside Fire Department, California Department of Forestry, California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff Department, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, Rialto Police Department).
Chaplain Steve spent 16 days in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attack against America providing emotional and spiritual care to many members of NYPD and FDNY at ground Zero. He took two teams of chaplains to New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Gustov to minister to the New Orleans Police Department and Fire Department. He has been to Washington D.C. for National Police Week on four occasions where he has assisted in debriefing and counseling police officers and family members of those who had been killed in the line-of-duty.
In 2008, Chaplain Steve, along with three other chaplains from across the United States, spent eight days in Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis devastated the region and killed over 100,000 people. While there he was able to assist in training 44 pastors in trauma and grief counseling in order for them to provide crisis intervention to their church body and community.
Chaplain Steve is an Approved Instructor with the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), able to train others in Individual Crisis Intervention and Peer Support, Law Enforcement Perspectives for CISM Enhancement, Pastoral Crisis Intervention I, Pastoral Crisis Intervention II, and Grief Following Trauma. He is also a trainer for the International Fellowship of Chaplains (IFOC) and National Center for Chaplain Development (NCCD).
Chaplain Steve has trained up a crisis counseling response team in his church that is able to respond to the aftermath of any critical incident in order to provide emotional and spiritual care and support. He has also had the opportunity to train other police and fire chaplains from different departments.
Chaplain Steve has written two booklets specifically directed to the law enforcement officer and firefighter. His booklet “Triumph Through Tragedy” is designed to minister to police officers and firefighters as they deal with the horrible realities of life—man’s inhumanity to man. His booklet “Take This Job and Love It” is designed to teach them how to get along with Joe Citizen, as well as fellow police officers and firefighters in the workplace. These books are available through the Living Shield Ministries web page www.livingshield.org for a small cost.
Chaplain Steve writes and sends out weekly “Words of Encouragement” to anyone who would like to receive them. They may sign up to receive these words by using our message form found here (Coming Soon).
Chaplain Steve has a monthly fellowship breakfast which meets at Kountry Folks Restaurant in Riverside for those in law enforcement and the fire service (see map).
Chaplain Steve is available to officiate for funerals and weddings.
Chaplain Steve is available to speak at men’s retreats, police officers and/or firefighter’s conferences, or couples conferences.
Chaplain Steve and his wife, Sonja, have been married for 29 years and reside in Riverside, California. They have four sons and nine grandchildren.