All pastor, but part cop, too

Police Chaplain Paul Meeker delivers God's Word when it's needed most.

By Rachel Pritchett, communicator

BREMERTON — Tall and imposing and with a smile as strong as steel, the Rev. Paul Meeker strides past desks at the Bremerton Police Department.

"Make my way through, just check on people, let them know they're appreciated. Anyone needs care, hey, we're here."

For 20 years, the pastor at nearby Our Saviour's Lutheran Church has been a trusted and much-loved chaplain here.

A records clerk asks Meeker to pray for her family.

"Because my son's getting a license," she said.

"Absolutely," he says before moving on.

Two decades have thrust Chaplain Meeker into the hottest fires of human experience. But taking care of officers' emotional and spiritual needs is what he does most.

One officer's relationship with his wife has gone cold. Another's daughter is taking drugs and causing pain to his family and himself, which he brings to work.

Meeker makes a special stop at yet another officer's desk. Her son killed himself a few years back. Since that awful time, Meeker's made sure he's front and center for her.

"A lot of times I call it a ministry of listening, just a ministry of presence," he said.

Meeker never thought about being a police chaplain until asked by Dick Dexter, a funeral-director member of his congregation. Our Saviour's is located in the bulls eye of the poorest and most crime-ridden section of Bremerton. The congregation had a long history of boldly reaching out to those in darkest corners. Meeker as a police chaplain would be a extension of that, Dexter suggested to him.

"It was a blend of apprehension and curiosity," Meeker remembered. "Gave it a try."

Dressed in a regular officer's uniform with bullet-proof vest, but with a clerical collar and prominent cross on his sleeve, he rides along regularly with the officers, usually at night when the action is at its peak.

They get a call-out. Officers in another county are in hot pursuit of a driver fleeing at breakneck speeds. They're headed their way, and Meeker and the officer are ordered to pick up the chase at the county line.

Adrenaline rushes through Meeker as they chase after the driver, who now is weaving through crowded city streets where men, women and children are walking.

Meeker prays for their safety.

The driver crashes his car smack in front of Meeker's church. He jumps out and flees on foot, but the chase is over. Meeker shudders and takes a breath.

Daughter Arleta thinks her dad's other job is very cool. Wife Loretta, less enthusiastic.

Meeker, 51, hesitates. "She has concerns when I do ride-alongs."

The years have left their mark.

A parent backs out of his driveway and runs over his toddler, crushing the child to death. Meeker and an officer are immediately called to stand alongside the mortified parent and family.

"It affected me personally. Why does God allow children to die, to suffer unnecessarily? I will take that question to the grave and to heaven," he said.

Then again, Meeker already has the answer.

"The Lord is faithful in every life situation," he said.

Cops, Meeker said, are a surprisingly religious group of people, and some over the years have worshiped at Our Saviour's.

Meeker continues his walk-through at the police station, greeting, joking and laughing in his booming voice, and asking if he can help.

"You never know when your witness might plant a seed for faith."

Photo by Rachel Pritchett
The Rev. Paul Meeker leads Our Saviour's Lutheran Church of Bremerton but also is a longtime and beloved chaplain at the Bremerton Police Department.