A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence agency, embassy, school, labor union, business, police department, fire department, university, sports club), or a private chapel. The term chaplaincy refers to the chapel, facility or department in which one or more chaplains carry out their role.

Though the term chaplain originally referred to representatives of the Christian faith, it is now also applied to people of other religions or philosophical traditions, as in the case of chaplains serving with military forces and an increasing number of chaplaincies at U.S. universities. In recent times, many lay people have received professional training in chaplaincy and are now appointed as chaplains in schools, hospitals, companies, universities, prisons and elsewhere to work alongside, or instead of, official members of the clergy. The concepts of a multi-faith team, secular, generic or humanist chaplaincy are also gaining increasing use, particularly within healthcare and educational settings.

Types of chaplaincies

Education
School chaplains are a fixture in religious and, more recently, secular schools. In religious schools the role of the chaplain tends to be educational and liturgical. In secular schools the role of the chaplain tends to be that of a mentor and a provider of pastoral care services. Chaplains provide care for students by supporting them during times of crisis or need. Many chaplains run programs to promote the welfare of students, staff and parents including programs to help students deal with grief, anger or depression. Chaplains also build relationships with students by participating in extracurricular activities such as breakfast programs, lunchtime groups and sports groups. School chaplains can also liaise with external organizations providing support services for the school. Many schools now have pupil support departments with several mentors whose jobs are to look out for the pupils and always be there to help but they give no religious or spiritual guidance because of multiculturalism and diverse opinions on religion and beliefs. Chaplains have also been referred to as spiritual animators (also faith animators or pastoral animators) based on the French concept of animation spirituelle or spiritual care.

In Australia chaplains in state schools have, controversially, been funded by the federal government and local communities since 2007. Australian chaplains assist school communities to support the spiritual, social, and emotional well-being of their students. Chaplaincy services are provided by non denominational companies.  there are 2339 chaplains working in Australian secular schools, along with 512 student welfare workers. Australian schools will lose the option of appointing secular social workers under the national school chaplaincy program, for which the Abbott government has found an extra $245m in the 2014 budget funding.

Similarly, in Scotland the focus of school chaplaincy is on welfare and building positive relationships joining students on excursions and sharing meals. Chaplains are also non-denominational and act as a link between the school community and society. Like Australian chaplains it is expected that they will not proselytise.

In Ireland, chaplaincy takes a very different approach in which chaplains are expected to teach up to four hours of class instruction per week and are usually Catholic themselves. Chaplaincy duties include visiting homes, religious services, retreats and celebrations, as well as counseling.

Higher education
For higher education, chaplains are appointed by many colleges and universities, sometimes working directly for the institution, and sometimes as representatives of separate organizations that specifically work to support students, such as Hillel International for Jews or the Newman Centers for Catholics. In the United States, the National Association of college and University Chaplains works to support the efforts of many of these chaplains, helping chaplains minister to the individual faith of students, faculty, and staff, while promoting inter-religious understanding. Chaplains often also oversee programs on campus that foster spiritual, ethical, religious, and political and cultural exchange, and the promotion of service.

Industrial chaplains

Law and police
Law enforcement or police chaplains work with and as part of local, regional, county, state, and national or federal law enforcement and provide a variety of services within the law enforcement community. They should not be confused with prison chaplains, whose primary ministry is to those who are incarcerated either awaiting trial or after conviction. The role of the law enforcement chaplain deals primarily with law enforcement personnel and agencies. The chaplain responds to these unique needs and challenges with religious guidance, reassuring and trustworthy presence, resources and counseling services. The law enforcement chaplain offers support to law enforcement officers, administrators, support staff, victims and their families, and occasionally even the families of accused or convicted offenders. Law enforcement chaplaincy is a ministry of presence and must have the proper training if they are working with law enforcement officers. Some ministries such as Chaplain Fellowship Ministries requires LEO chaplains to be certified in Public Safety Chaplaincy before becoming certified as a LEO chaplain. Most chaplains are uniformed and some may have a rank. They will always wear distinguishing insignia or markings to denote their chaplain rather than lawman status.

Fire departments
Chaplains working with fire departments provide the same kind of support as do chaplains working with law enforcement agencies, and sometimes face even greater danger working with the wounded in often very dangerous surroundings.

At the scene of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, for example, New York City Fire Department chaplain Mychal Judge was killed by flying debris from the South Tower when he re-entered the lobby of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, shortly after administering last rites to a wounded firefighter.

Labor

Many workplace chaplains (commonly called industrial chaplains) are sponsored by labor unions, including in some cases chaplains for police and firefighters. The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) sponsors a chaplaincy program for all of its local unions. In New York City, the Electricians Union (IBEW Local 3) has affiliated Catholic, Episcopalian, Greek Orthodox and Masonic organizations with chaplains.

Union chaplains are often viewed as advantageous as they are accountable to the employees and not corporate management.

Ports

In many ports, particularly in North America and Europe, there are chaplaincy organizations providing religious and welfare services to seafarers while they are in port. This ministry typically takes the form of going aboard ships to talk with seafarers, maintaining centers near the port with chapels, spaces for relaxation, and internet, and providing transportation to seafarers on shore leave. Prominent international seafarers' ministry organizations include Stella Maris, the Mission to Seafarers, the Sailors' Society, the Deutsche Seemannsmission, and the International Christian Maritime Association.

Corporate
Some businesses, large or small, employ chaplains for their staff or clientele. Services provided may include employee assistance and counseling services; wellness seminars; conflict management and mediation; leadership and management development; and trauma/serious incident response. In 2007, 4,000 corporate chaplains were reported to be working in the U.S., with the majority being employees of specialist chaplaincy companies such as Marketplace Chaplains USA and Corporate Chaplains of America. In 2014, Marketplace Chaplains USA reported employing over 2,800 chaplains in 44 states and over 960 cities. The organization added an international arm in 2006; Marketplace Chaplains International serves Canada, the U.K., Mexico and Puerto Rico. Capellania Empresarial provides corporate chaplaincy services in Paraguay. Chaplains without Borders has been providing corporate and other chaplaincy services in Australia since 2005.

Military

Military chaplains provide pastoral, spiritual and emotional support for service personnel, including the conduct of religious services at sea, on bases or in the field. Military chaplains have a long history; the first English military-oriented chaplains, for instance, were priests on board proto-naval vessels during the 8th century.  Land-based chaplains appeared during the reign of King Edward I. The current form of military chaplain dates from the era of the First World War.

Chaplains are nominated, appointed, or commissioned in different ways in different countries. A military chaplain can be an army-trained soldier with additional theological training or an ordained person nominated to the army by religious authorities. In the United Kingdom the Ministry of Defence employs chaplains but their authority comes from their sending church. Royal Navy chaplains undertake a 16-week bespoke induction and training course including a short course at Britannia Royal Naval College and specialist fleet time at sea alongside a more experienced chaplain.  Naval chaplains called to service with the Royal Marines undertake a grueling five-month-long Commando Course and, if successful, wear the commandos' Green Beret.  British Army chaplains undertake seven weeks training at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre Amport House and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Royal Air Force chaplains must complete a 12-week Specialist Entrant course at the RAF College Cranwell followed by the Chaplains' Induction Course at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre Amport House of a further two weeks. The United States Navy will often give chaplain training to cadets seeking a theological route in the military. Additionally, they are granted instant employment as a Navy chaplain once ordained. Additionally, in the United States military, chaplains must be endorsed by their religious affiliation in order to serve in any facet of the military. In some cases, like that of the U.S. Navy, a Religious Program Specialist may be appointed to help alleviate some of the duties bestowed upon Naval chaplains.

Military chaplains are normally accorded officer status, although Sierra Leone had a Naval Lance Corporal chaplain in 2001. In most navies, their badges and insignia do not differentiate their levels of responsibility and status. By contrast, in air forces and armies, they typically carry ranks and are differentiated by crosses or other equivalent religious insignia. However, United States military chaplains in every branch carry both rank and Chaplain Corps insignia.

Though the Geneva Conventions does not state whether chaplains may bear arms, they specify (Protocol I, June 8, 1977, Art 43.2) that chaplains are non-combatants. In recent times both the UK and US have required chaplains, but not medical personnel, to be unarmed.  Other nations, notably Norway, Denmark and Sweden, make it an issue of individual conscience.  Captured chaplains are not considered Prisoners of War (Third Convention, August 12, 1949, Chapter IV Art 33) and must be returned to their home nation unless retained to minister to prisoners of war.

Inevitably, a significant number of serving chaplains have died in action. 100 chaplains of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps were killed in action during World War II: a casualty rate greater "than any other branch of the services except the infantry and the Army Air Corps" (Crosby, 1994, pxxiii). Many have been decorated for bravery in action (five have won Britain's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross). The Chaplain's Medal for Heroism is a special U.S. military decoration given to military chaplains who have been killed in the line of duty, although it has to date only been awarded to the famous Four Chaplains, all of whom died in the  sinking in 1943 after giving up their lifejackets to others. In addition to these, five other U.S. chaplains have been awarded the Medal of Honor: Chaplain (LCDR) Joseph T. O'Callahan, USN (World War II); Chaplain (CPT) Emil Kapaun, USA (Posthumous, Korean War); Chaplain (LT) Vincent Capodanno, USN (Posthumous, Vietnam War); Chaplain (MAJ) Charles J. Watters, USA (Posthumous, Vietnam War); and Chaplain (CPT) Angelo J. Liteky, USA (Vietnam).  (Later in life, Liteky changed his name to Charles, left the Catholic priesthood, became an anti-war activist, and renounced his Medal of Honor). Chaplain Fellowship Ministries military chaplains are nondenominational. To be considered for appointment to serve as a military chaplain, candidates must first be ordained and have an ecclesiastical endorsement by a valid religious faith group recognized by the Department of Defense. Candidates must meet all DOD requirements. The Chaplain Fellowship had military chaplains serving in Iraq and now in Afghanistan.

In 2006, training materials obtained by U.S. intelligence showed that insurgent snipers fighting in Iraq were urged to single out and attack engineers, medics, and chaplains on the theory that those casualties would demoralize entire enemy units. The United States European Command has co-sponsored an annual International Military Chiefs of Chaplains Conference every year since 1991 to consider the various issues affecting chaplaincy ministry and other military personnel.  At times, the existence of military chaplains has been challenged in countries that have a separation of Church and State. However one of the major issues affecting chaplaincy and military personnel is that of moral injury arising as a result of international conflicts and terrorism.

Music
Some chaplains use live music as a therapeutic tool. Music can aid in healing, access core faith and emotions, and help to build rapport in the chaplaincy relationship.

Parliamentary

Some nations, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have chaplains appointed to work with parliamentary bodies, such as the Chaplain of the United States Senate, the Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives, and Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons. In addition to opening proceedings with prayer, these chaplains provide pastoral counseling to congressional members, their staffs, and their families;  coordinate the scheduling of guest chaplains, who offer opening prayers; arrange and sometimes conduct marriages, memorial services, and funeral services for congress, staff, and their families; and conduct or coordinate religious services, study groups, prayer meetings, holiday programs, and religious education programs, as well.

Royalty and nobility
Monarchs have held private religious services as a long-standing right along with a privilege of appointing their own chaplains to serve them and their families. Since the late medieval period, dukes and lesser ranking nobles have had a capacity to name a number of chaplains. The question of who has authority to qualify chaplains was the heart of the Investiture Controversy in medieval Germany.

Prison

Prison chaplains can be a "safety valve, through listening and pro-social intervention" in potentially explosive situations. They also reduce recidivism by linking offenders to positive community resources, and in the work they do to help offenders change their hearts, minds and directions.

Rabbi Philip R. Alstat (1891–1976), who—in addition to work as a chaplain in New York hospitals and senior citizen facilities—served for three decades as the Jewish chaplain for "The Tombs", the Manhattan Detention Facility, once described his service as follows: "My goals are the same as those of the prison authorities—to make better human beings. The only difference is that their means are discipline, security, and iron bars.
Mine are the spiritual ministrations that operate with the mind and the heart."

In Canada in 2013, a $2-million contract for chaplaincy services for federal prisons was awarded to Kairos Pneuma Chaplaincy Inc., a company newly formed by five current and former federal prison chaplains. About "2,500 volunteers, many of them of minority faiths, would also continue providing services." There has however, been very little research looking at the role of chaplains and volunteers working within correctional facilities.

Sports
Chaplains to sports communities have existed since the middle of the 20th century and have significantly grown in the past 20 years. The United States, United Kingdom and Australia have well established Christian sports chaplaincy ministries.

Sports chaplains consist of people from many different walks of life. Most commonly, the chaplains are ministers or full-time Christian workers but occasionally, chaplaincy work is done without charge or any financial remuneration. Often, sports chaplains to a particular sport are former participants of that sport. This helps the chaplain to not only provide spiritual support and guidance to a player, but also to give them the ability to empathize and relate to some of the challenges facing the participant with whom they are ministering.

Animal

Veterinary chaplains serve people and their animals, ministering with regards to the spirituality associated with animals and their connections with humans. A major function is grief support and prayer. Other services include hospice support while animals are cared for near the end of their lives; support in animal health crises, including at the veterinary hospital; conducting services for animal blessings, naming/adopting ceremonies, and end of life celebration ceremonies. Veterinary chaplains may also offer sermons and spiritual guidance on the human/animal bond and our responsibilities toward animals; and some may visit nursing homes and hospitals with therapeutic animal assistants. Other veterinary chaplains may provide blessings for animal care workers; assist with human/animal communication; and offer alternative healing for animals such as animal Reiki or acupuncture.

Colonial
A colonial chaplain was appointed to a colony. The term is commonly used to refer to the chaplain appointed as a non-military chaplain to one of the Crown Colonies from the late 18th century or early 19th century. Richard Johnson (1756–1827) was the first colonial chaplain appointed to the new prison colony at New South Wales in 1786.

Environmental
Environmental chaplaincy is an emerging field within chaplaincy. Environmental chaplains (also known as eco-chaplains, Earth chaplains, nature chaplains) provide spiritual care in a way that honors humanity's deep connection to the earth. Environmental chaplains hold many roles. They may support people working on the frontlines of issues like climate change or other environmental issues or they may support people impacted by industrial or other disasters by providing pastoral care, presence, and rituals. Environmental chaplains may also bear witness to the Earth itself and represent the merging of science and spirituality. Their role can be to "usher in a new conscience and consciousness to find contentment, the appreciation of inner riches over outer wealth, quality over quantity" using universally appreciated values, such as honesty and vision. Sarah Vekasi created a vision of eco-chaplaincy inspired by Joanna Macy's The Work that Reconnects, and saw eco-chaplaincy as a path to facilitating the "Great Turning," which is described as the turning away from a business-as-usual way of being and turning toward a life-sustaining way that protects people and the planet.

Health care
Many hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospices employ chaplains to assist with the spiritual, religious, and emotional needs of patients, families and staff. Chaplains are often employed at residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFE) and skilled nursing facilities (SNF) as well. Chaplains care for people of all faiths and no faith. In mental health work, chaplains are highly skilled, working with other therapists as part of a multi-disciplinary team, especially where the patient's mental health is associated with their religiosity, or where their mental well-being can be aided by spiritual care.

In the United States, health care chaplains who are board-certified have completed a minimum of four units of Clinical Pastoral Education training through The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Healthcare Chaplains Ministry Association, The Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training; or The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy and may be certified by one of the following organizations: The Spiritual Care Association, The Association of Professional Chaplains, The National Association of Catholic Chaplains, Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains (formerly The National Association of Jewish Chaplains), The Association of Certified Christian Chaplains, or The College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy. Certification typically requires a Masters of Divinity degree (or its equivalent), faith group ordination or commissioning, faith group endorsement, and four units (1600 hours) of Clinical Pastoral Education (the Military Chaplains Association of the United States of America does require more, but they are a dod2088 501c-3 military support group founded in 1954 by Military Chaplains). The Chaplain Innovation Lab, set up in 2008, has responded rapidly and creatively to the unique pastoral demands of the COVID-19 pandemic; it has 3000 members world-wide.

In Canada, health care chaplains may be certified by the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care.

In the UK, health care chaplains are employed by their local NHS Trust (Health Boards in Scotland and Wales) or by charities associated with delivering health care such as a hospice or private hospital. The NHS in England publishes occasional guidance on chaplaincy practice. UK Chaplains are drawn from a range of faith and belief backgrounds, and are not necessarily ordained or a recognised faith leader. In Scotland Healthcare Chaplaincy developed to be 'generic' from 2002 onwards; that is the chaplaincy provides spiritual care to all people and chaplains do not represent a faith or belief group. They may work on a full-time and part-time basis, and some work unpaid but with formal recognition for a faith or belief group regarding their training and status and may be termed honorary chaplain. The term Voluntary Chaplain is frowned on. The largest professional body for the UK is the College of Health Care Chaplains. Scotland historically had a distinct professional body, the Scottish Association of Chaplains in Healthcare (SACH) but this has since dissolved. Northern Ireland also has the Healthcare Chaplains Association. Membership of the College of Health Care Chaplains was historically not open to Catholic Priests as it carries with it the membership of the Unite Trade Union, but this changed in April 2018. Chaplains working in a palliative care setting may also choose to join the Association of Hospice and Palliative Care Chaplains. Other less formal networks also exist supporting Chaplaincy in Paediatric settings and GP based Chaplaincy.

Within the UK there is also the UK Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy (UKBHC) which has been set up in order to regulate the ministry and professional practice of health care chaplains. They publish a code of conduct which all registered chaplains are bound to abide by. The UKBHC has successfully applied to the Professional Standards Authority to be an accredited register of healthcare chaplains demonstrating that it meets the Authority's high standards in areas such as governance and training.

Peer-reviewed journals that publish scholarly articles and research on healthcare chaplaincy include the Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy (USA), the international journal Health and Social Care Chaplaincy (UK) and the Journal of Religion and Health (US).

Cruise
Working on board cruise ships, cruise chaplains provide pastoral and spiritual support to both passengers and crew members. With the co-operation of cruise companies, chaplains normally stay on board for the specific duration of a cruise. Catholic seafarers' charity Apostleship of the Sea currently deploys chaplains on board P&O Cruises and Cunard Line ships during the Christmas and Easter periods. While ministering to passengers are part of Apostleship of the Sea's chaplains' role, their main focus is the welfare of the crew, who can often spend many months at sea away from home.

Domestic

A domestic chaplain was a chaplain attached to a noble household in order to grant the family a degree of self-sufficiency in religion. The chaplain was freed from any obligation to reside in a particular place so could travel with the family, internationally if necessary, and minister to their spiritual needs. Further, the family could appoint a chaplain who reflected their own doctrinal views. Domestic chaplains performed family christenings, funerals and weddings and were able to conduct services in the family's private chapel, excusing the nobility from attending public worship.

In feudal times most laymen, and for centuries even most noblemen, were poorly educated and the chaplain would also be an important source of scholarship in the household, tutoring children and providing counsel to the family on matters broader than religion. Before the advent of the legal profession, modern bureaucracy and civil service, the literate clergy were often employed as secretarial staff, as in a chancery. Hence the term clerk, derived from Latin clericus (clergyman). This made them very influential in temporal affairs. There was also a moral impact since they heard the confessions of the elite.

The domestic chaplain was an important part of the life of the peerage in England from the reign of Henry VIII to the middle of the 19th century. Up until 1840, Anglican domestic chaplains were regulated by law and enjoyed the substantial financial advantage of being able to purchase a license to hold two benefices simultaneously while residing in neither.

Many monarchies and major noble houses had, or still have, several domestic or private chaplains as part of their Ecclesiastical Household, either following them or attached to a castle or other residence. Queen Elizabeth II had 36 Anglican chaplains, in addition to chaplains extraordinary and honorary chaplains appointed to minister to her. Castles with attached chaplains generally had at least one Chapel Royal, sometimes as significant as a cathedral. A modern example is St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, also the home of the Order of the Garter.

Other

There are also chaplains to private clubs, television or radio stations, family, community teams, groups such as Boys' and Girls' Brigade companies and Scout troops, airports, cruise ships, nightclubs, and theaters.

The term can also refer to priests attached to Catholic convents. There is also the position of Chaplain of His Holiness, a title granted by the Pope to certain priests who become part of the Papal Household and work with the Papal Chapel. Prior to 1968 they were called Supernumerary Privy Chamberlains.

In German-speaking countries, the German "Kaplan" is often translated as "chaplain", but in fact the two words are false friends.  "Kaplan" as generally used in German-speaking countries is better translated as curate in British usage, or assistant pastor in American usage.

In the Church of England and other Anglican churches, a Bishop's "examining chaplain(s)" are those (usually priests) who examine candidates for ordination and advise the bishop as to their suitability. This role, and ordination processes, have varied greatly in the churches' history and between the churches.

At the University of Oxford, the term Caplan is used for the position equivalent to president, for the head of the Cymdeithas Dafydd ap Gwilym, (Dafydd ap Gwilym Society) the Oxford University Welsh society, named after the 14th-century Welsh poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym.

See also
 Religion in United States prisons
 United States military chaplain symbols
 Jakob Joseph Matthys

References

Further reading
Paul Alexander (2008). Cascadia Publishing House: PEACE TO WAR: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God Peace to War: Shifting Allegiances in the Assemblies of God].  Telford, PA: Cascadia Publishing/Herald Press.  This book contains a scholarly analysis of the impact of Pentecostal military chaplaincy during the 20th century.
Baker, Alan T. (2021). Foundations of Chaplaincy: A Practical Guide. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. .
Bergen, Doris. L., (ed), 2004.  The Sword of the Lord: Military Chaplains from the First to the Twenty-First Century.  University of Notre Dame Press

Nay, Robert. "The Operational, Social, Religious Influences Upon The Army Chaplain Field Manual, 1926–1952" .
Norman, James (2004). At the Heart of Education: School Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care. Dublin: Veritas Publications. .
Paget, Naomi & McCormack, Janet (2006). The Work of the Chaplain. Valley Forge: Judson Press. .
Smith, John C. Chaplain. International Chaplains Association.
VandeCreek, Larry & Lucas, Art (2001). The Discipline for Pastoral Care Giving: Foundations for Outcome Oriented Chaplaincy. Binghamton: The Haworth Press. .

External links

 "chaplain", Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary
 "chaplain", Chaplaincy certification and Training
 Unit Chaplain on the WW2 Movie Fury

Ecclesiastical titles
Religious occupations

Chaplain


XEFV-AM is a Regional Mexican radio station serving the border towns of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico (its city of license) and El Paso, Texas, United States (where it also maintains a sales office). It is owned by MegaRadio Mexico. The station is known on-air as La Rancherita 1000 AM.

History
The first concession for XEFV was awarded in 1932 to José Onofre Meza, for a station broadcasting on 1370 kHz with 50 watts of power. Meza sold to Darío Córdoba by 1952. Upon Córdoba's death, ownership passed to his widow, Luz Esparza Vda. de Córdoba. XEFV was sold in 1994 to its current concessionaire.

External links
official website

References

Radio stations in Chihuahua
Mass media in Ciudad Juárez

XEFV-AM


Firsby is a small rural linear village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated  east from the city and county town of Lincoln,  south-east from the nearest market town of Spilsby, and  inland from the holiday resort town of Skegness.

The village lies on the northern side of the waterway today known as the Steeping River, which is the lower element of the River Lymn that sources in the Lincolnshire Wolds. Firsby was once the location of one of the busiest railway stations on the East Coast of England.

The 2001 census recorded a village population of 276, increasing slightly at the 2011 census to 278.

History

Early history
Historically Firsby belonged to the Wold division of the Wapentake of Candleshoe and was in a part of ancient Lindsey.

In his History of the County of Lincolnshire written in 1834, historian Thomas Allen records "Firsby is an obscure place on the north side of the River Limb (sic) between Wainfleet and Spilsby, being five miles distant from each".

Allen further comments that "Firsby's St Andrew's Church is an ancient crumbling edifice in a state of great decay. The single aisled church is thatched and in front of the porch is a bare pillar of stone that may have at one time held a sundial". Before the Reformation the church belonged to the Abbey at Bardney and was presented to the village by the Norman Lord of the Manor Sir Gilbert de Gaunt (1048-1094). The rectory was valued in 1834 at £12 0s 7d (£12.03). The original Norman church was demolished and a new church building erected in 1856 on the same site.

There were once two public houses in the village although both are closed. One of the public houses had its own brewery, and the other serviced the railway and doubled as the Railway Hotel. There are other records that mention a third drinking establishment around 1852, Whyley's Beerhouse, that stood adjacent to Firsby railway station. The local beer houses were introduced by the 1830 Beer Act which permitted anybody to open a licensed beer and cider house in their front room for a licence fee of two guineas, but they were not permitted to sell spirits or fortified wines. Many beer houses went on to develop as full public houses to sell a range of drinks, and still exist; by 1885 those that hadn't become pubs had died out.

At the beginning of the 20th century the village had a football team, which played its fixtures on a field behind the Railway Hotel, with a clubhouse and changing rooms next to the field. A previous village hall was situated beside the main Spilsby to Wainfleet road.

Railway connections

The railway station at Firsby opened in 1848 and was a substantial structure for a country station, totally unlike the majority of small isolated rural halts. The station had three platforms each two hundred metres long, with buildings, booking offices, male, female and general waiting rooms, restaurants, toilets, baggage and goods halls, crew rooms, staff canteen and numerous railway offices. The main line tracks were crossed by a substantial passenger footbridge and most of the station was covered by an ornate cast-iron and glass canopy. The station also had signal boxes, water towers, goods sidings and engine repair sheds.

Firsby was a junction for the Skegness line and the Spilsby line on their short branches from the main GNR London to Cleethorpes railway. During the summer months holiday passenger traffic, from throughout the country alighting at Firsby for the connection to Skegness, was substantial with hundreds and sometimes thousands of passengers passing through the station at a weekend. In the Victorian era most holidaymakers travelled by train and Firsby was one of the busiest stations on the East Lincolnshire Railway. The station was the major employer in the area and between the station master and his assistants, ticket office staffs, ticket inspectors, signalmen, porters, catering staffs, drivers, firemen, guards and track maintenance staff for three separate railway companies, several hundred people worked at, or from, Firsby station on a daily basis.

Between 1943 and 1958 Firsby station was kept busy as the nearest railhead staging point for RAF and later USAF airmen travelling to and from the nearby RAF Spilsby airfield at Great Steeping.

The line was closed down in 1970 due to the Beeching cuts, and the majority of the station and the platforms were demolished. Only the most southerly section of the station building remains and is now a private residence. With the old east coast main line between Firsby and Cleethorpes removed a new direct link to Skegness was installed at the junction a few hundred metres south from the old Firsby station. A common call at the station was "Over the bridge for Skegness"

Firsby to Spilsby Railway

A small local railway company built a branch line from Firsby junction to Spilsby, which it opened on 1 May 1868. The branch was just over  long and connected Spilsby to the King's Cross, London to Cleethorpes main line. The only other railway station on the branch line was Halton Holegate Halt. Necessary parliamentary permission was obtained by an Act in July 1865 which incorporated The Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company with an authorised capital of £20,000 and loans of £8,333 for the construction of the four-mile-long single-track branch.

Construction of the railway began in March 1867 with the ceremonial cutting of the first turf performed by local rector, the Reverend Rawnsley who was standing in for the railway company's chairman Lord Willoughby de Eresby. The railway was expected to be opened quickly but disputes with the contractors arose over the quality of their work and several lengths of track had to be replaced. With these problems finally fixed the official opening took place. Initial traffic levels and income were promising, however by 1885 rail traffic had slumped leading to the Great Northern Railway buying out the Spilsby & Firsby Railway Company for £20,000 through an Act of Parliament on 25 July 1890.

In 1920 there was a major accident when the Spilsby engine was derailed and passengers had to be transported by road. When the locomotive was returned to the tracks it managed to reach Firsby in a record eight and a half minutes instead of the normal thirteen minutes. A few days later the train ran into the buffers of another stationary train at Firsby and several passengers were badly shaken. A 71-year-old local businessman, Mr. Welch, died the following day from the delayed effects of the accident.

Falling usage caused passenger services to be suspended in 1939 just as the Second World War began and they were never reinstated. A goods train service for grain, potatoes, livestock and other agricultural products continued through Firsby for almost another twenty years. Goods including petrol, paraffin and coal continued into Spilsby via the rail link until its closure on 30 November 1958. The Spilsby station building has been demolished but other buildings still stand, and in recent years have been used by an agricultural suppliers as a shop and store with new sections added. Between Firsby and Spilsby most of the old track route can still be seen in aerial photographs, marked by the avenue of trees and bushes, with only 5% ploughed out into fields.

Governance

Parish
Firsby is governed by the Firsby group Parish Council that covers the villages of Bratoft, Firsby, Great Steeping, Irby in the Marsh, and Little Steeping. The current (2013) chairman is Richard Kidd of Irby in the Marsh, and the vice chairman, Robert Heane of Great Steeping.

District
Firsby falls within East Lindsey District Council and in 2013 is represented by Pauline Cooper (Conservative).

County Council
Firsby's 2013 county councillor to Lincoln County Council is Neil Cooper (Conservative)

Westminster
Firsby falls within the Louth and Horncastle constituency.

Geography
Firsby stands on the northern side of the River Steeping waterway, which is the lower part of the River Lymn, and to the east of the Lincolnshire Wolds on a tract of flat fenland, bounded by Boston Deeps and the North Sea. It is within  inland by road from the holiday centre of Skegness on the Lincolnshire coast.

The Wolds comprise a series of low hills and steep valleys underlain by calcareous chalk, green limestone and sandstone rock, laid down in the Cretaceous period under a shallow warm sea. The characteristic open valleys of the Wolds were created during the last ice age through the action of glaciation and meltwater. Geographically, the Lincolnshire Wolds are a continuation of the Yorkshire Wolds which run through the East Riding of Yorkshire, the Wolds as a whole having been bisected by the erosive power of the waters of the Humber.

The fenlands, that stretch down as far as Norfolk, are former wetlands consisting both of peat bogs and tidal silt marshes which were virtually all drained by the end of the 19th century when Firsby had its longest period of growth. The former peat fens and silt marshes provided a rich loamy soil that was ideal for the growing of cereal and vegetable crops, and gave Lincolnshire its reputation as being the 'bread basket' of England. The resulting flat lands also made an ideal environment for the later mechanisation of farming in the mid-20th century. Firsby has always been an agriculturally based village with a dark and rich loamy soil over a heavy clay subsoil.

Demography
The population in 1834 was recorded as 142. By 1921 that had risen to 231 and has remained reasonably constant ever since.

The 2001 census recorded the following information for Firsby:

Population: 276

52.5% male and 47.5% female. Average age 39.8

18.4% are single and never married, 64.2% married with the remainder split between separated, divorced or widowed.

98.9% are white and 1.1% of mixed race.

83% declared a Christian religion, 1.1% Buddhist and 15.9% stated no religion

57% are employed, 18.7% retired, 2.6% unemployed and the remainder are disabled, full-time carers or students.

Education
There are no schools in the village. School bus transport is provided by Lincolnshire Education Authority.

Most primary school children attend Great Steeping Primary School, a mixed sex rural primary school which has approximately 115 pupils with 67 boys and 48 girls.

Secondary school age pupils can attend:
King Edward VI Academy in Spilsby, a coeducational bi-lateral secondary school, sixth form college and specialist Humanities College for children between the ages of eleven and eighteen.
St Clement's College (formerly known as the Earl of Scarborough High School), a secondary modern on Burgh Le Marsh Road, Skegness.
Skegness Grammar School on Vernon Road, Skegness.

Religious sites

Firsby Grade II listed Anglican church is dedicated to St Andrew. It is constructed of limestone ashlar, and was rebuilt in 1856 by architect George Edmund Street at a cost of £850.

Firsby Methodist Church, a Wesleyan chapel built in 1838, is on Fendyke Road. The village hall was built in 1922.

Notable people

Bishop Warburton, rector of Firsby-cum-Steeping Magna (1730–1756).

See also
 Photo of St Andrews Church
 Firsby Walks

References

External links

"Firsby", Genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2011

Villages in Lincolnshire
Civil parishes in Lincolnshire
East Lindsey District

Firsby


Dendrochirotida are an order of sea cucumbers. Members of this order have branched tentacles and are suspension feeders. Examples include Thyonella and Cucumaria.

Characteristics
Holothurians in this order are characterised by ten to thirty much branched tentacles which are sometimes digitate. They also have ring structures composed of ten calcareous plates circling the pharynx. They have both retractor and introvert muscles which means they can retract the tentacles into the mouth when not feeding. The body wall is either firm with large ossicles or of a soft consistency with few ossicles. In some genera the animals attach themselves to hard surfaces but in others they burrow into soft sediments. Prey is captured by the sticky tentacles and transferred to the mouth. The larvae are lecithotrophic, not feeding on plankton but surviving only on materials already present in the eggs until they settle and become juveniles.

Taxonomy
Order: Dendrochirotida
 family Cucumariidae Ludwig, 1894
 family Cucumellidae Thandar & Arumugam, 2011
 family Heterothyonidae Pawson, 1970
 family †Monilipsolidae Smith & Gallemí, 1991
 family Paracucumidae Pawson & Fell, 1965
 family Phyllophoridae Östergren, 1907
 family Placothuriidae Pawson & Fell, 1965
 family Psolidae Burmeister, 1837
 family Rhopalodinidae Théel, 1886
 family Sclerodactylidae Panning, 1949
 family Vaneyellidae Pawson & Fell, 1965
 family Ypsilothuriidae Heding, 1942

References

Echinoderm orders

Dendrochirotida


Jack Ponti (born February 16, 1958) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant.

Career
Ponti is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, manager, label executive, and consultant who started his career in the music business playing guitar in the rock band The Rest in his native New Jersey in the late 70s. The Rest featured a young Jon Bon Jovi as vocalist, but despite promotion by other successful New Jersey musicians, such as Southside Johnny and members of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, and a demo produced by Billy Squier, did not obtain a recording contract and split up. Jon Bon Jovi went to form his own band Bon Jovi, which in the following years gained worldwide success and multi-million record sales, while Ponti found a job as songwriter and producer for other rock bands. The late music business legend Ahmet Ertegun gave Ponti his first production job and the two grew close.

In the late 80s and early 90s, Ponti co-wrote songs for Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Keel, Trixter, Nelson, Kane Roberts, Joe Lynn Turner, Bonfire and other artists. He also produced and wrote albums for hard rock and glam metal bands Babylon A.D., Baton Rouge, Doro and for his own band Surgin', which he had created in 1985 at the insistence of his then managers. Surgin' disbanded after one record, though subsequent compilations have been released of early demos. Surgin' still has a strong following in the AOR community.

During the last period of popularity of glam metal, he was deeply involved with American glam metal bands Skid Row and Nelson. In 1991 he retired from the music business for a few years. During this time he built a gym, a martial arts school, and devoted his energies to martial arts and dogs, especially the rare breed Fila Brasileiro.

He came back in 1996, approaching the music business as a talent manager and record label owner. In 1998, he founded CazzyDog Management and became the manager of R&B artist and Grammy Awards winner India.Arie who was nominated for a record 7 Grammy awards as a debut artist, a record that is still held by her today. Other clients in the CazzyDog roster included: Boyz II Men, Az Yet, Mike E., Pru, and Scarface. Amongst the writer/producers they managed were Carlos (Six July) Broady. N.O. Joe Johnson, Mary Brown, all of the writers under Teddy Riley, and a host of others.

In 2004 he founded both Bardic Records and the Platform Group. Both companies were designed to work within the ever expanding "indie" sector. Both ventures were dismantled after a reconfiguration.

He is currently the CEO of Merovingian Music, a non-genre record label founded in 2006, with strong partnerships within the industry and a roster of pop, indie rock, hip hop and heavy metal artists. Merovingian Music currently has joint ventures with both Capitol Records and Jive Records and has recently merged with C.E Music, a label owned by David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production company.

Discography

Produced albums
Surgin' – When Midnight Comes (1985)
Baton Rouge – Shake Your Soul (1990)
Baton Rouge – Lights out on the Playground (1991)
China Rain – Bed of Nails (1991)
Lance Keltner – Lance Keltner (1992)
Doro – Angels Never Die (1993)
Doro – Machine II Machine (1995)
Baton Rouge – Baton Rouge (1997)
Angry Tears – Angry Tears (2000)
Holyday Express – Greatest Hits (2000)
Sinopoli – The Eyes Never Lie (2002)
Surgin' – Tokyo Rose (2003)
Surgin' – Electric Nights the Final Chapter (2003)
Jack Ponti Presents vol. 1 (2003)
Kittie – Funeral for Yesterday (2007)
Otep – Smash the Control Machine (2009)
Runner Runner – Runner Runner (2011)

Singles written or co-written
Bon Jovi – "Shot Through the Heart" from the album Bon Jovi (1984)
Glen Burtnik – "Follow You" from the album Heroes & Zeroes (1987)
Keel – "Somebody's Waiting" from the album Keel (1987)
Bonfire – "Sweet Obsession" from the album Fireworks (1987)
Bonfire – "Hard on Me" from the album Point Blank (1989)
Babylon A.D. – "The Kid Goes Wild" from the album Babylon A.D. (1989)
Baton Rouge – "The Price of Love" from the album Lights out on the Playground (1991)
Alice Cooper – "Hey Stoopid", "Love's a Loaded Gun" from the album Hey Stoopid (1991)
Doro – "Enough for You", "Bad Blood" and "Last Day of My Life" from the album Angels Never Die (1993)
Eric Gales Band – "Paralyzed" from the album Picture of a Thousand Faces (1993)
Doro – "Ceremony" and "In Freiheit Stirbt Mein Herz" from the album Machine II Machine (1995)
Nelson – "We Always Want What We Can't Get" from the album Imaginator (1996)
Melvin Taylor & The Slack Band – "Bang That Bell" from the album Bang That Bell (2000)

References

External links
 JackPonti Boozing Society website
 Merovingian Music website

1958 births
Living people
Record producers from New Jersey
Songwriters from New Jersey
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American chief executives
People from Red Bank, New Jersey
American music managers
Guitarists from New Jersey
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century American male musicians
American male songwriters

Jack Ponti


Henri-Joseph Rigel (9 February 1741 – 2 May 1799) was a German-born composer of the Classical era who spent most of his working life in France. He was born in Wertheim am Main where his father was musical intendant to the local prince. After an education in Germany, where his teachers included Niccolò Jommelli, Rigel moved to Paris in 1767. He quickly acquired a reputation in musical circles and published harpsichord pieces, string quartets, symphonies and concertos. He began composing for the Concert Spirituel, most notably four hiérodrames (oratorios on sacred themes): La sortie d'Egypte (1774), La destruction de Jericho (1778), Jephté (1783) and Les Macchabées (score lost). These show the influence of Christoph Willibald Gluck, and Gluck himself praised La sortie d'Égypte. Between 1778 and 1799 Rigel also wrote 14 operas, including the opéra comique Le savetier et le financier (1778).

Recordings
Six quatuors dialogués, Opus 10: Quatuor Franz Joseph (Atma Records, 2005)
La sortie d'Égypte, La destruction de Jéricho, Jephté, three oratorios: Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, Orchestre des Folies Françoises, conducted by Olivier Schneebeli (K617 Records, 2007)
Symphonies: Concerto Köln (Berlin Classics, 2009)

External links

1741 births
1799 deaths
People from Wertheim am Main
18th-century classical composers
German Classical-period composers
German male classical composers
German opera composers
Male opera composers
Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris
Pupils of Niccolò Jommelli
18th-century German composers
18th-century German male musicians

Henri-Joseph Rigel


Monster World IV is an action-adventure platform game developed by Westone and released in Japan by Sega for the Mega Drive in April 1994. The game title is slightly confusing: It is the sixth game in the Wonder Boy series and the fourth game in the Monster World subseries (the other three being Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap/Curse and Wonder Boy in Monster World/Wonder Boy V: Monster World III). It was later released for the PlayStation 2 on March 8, 2007, as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series under the name Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 29: Monster World Complete Collection. It was released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan on January 15, 2008. An English-language version was released in North America and Europe for Virtual Console on May 10, 2012, with a release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network to come on May 22, 2012. Monster World IV was the last Wonder Boy game to both be published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment. A remake by Artdink, titled Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, was released in May 2021.

Gameplay
Monster World IV is a mix of action-adventure, platforming, and RPG genres, in which the player traverses a 2D landscape fighting a variety of monsters as well as interacting with non-playable characters.

Expanding upon previous games in the series, Asha has the ability to swing her sword upward, downward, and forward while in midair, depending on which direction is pressed. She can also use her shield while standing by holding down.

Asha can summon her pet Pepelogoo to reach areas that she cannot on her own. By holding onto him, she can slow the descent of her jump (via his flying ability) or even perform a double-jump. Pepelogoo can also protect Asha from falling rocks, be used as a platform over lava geysers, and blow out fires that obstruct Asha's progress.

Equipment upgrades are purchased in the hub town. Armor increases Asha's pink life heart meter.  Shields increase her defense and give her stat resistances to certain elements, such as fire or ice.  Swords increase Asha's attack stats with critical effects depending on the sword.

Some items cannot be purchased and must be found in the temples and caverns that Asha must explore.  Healing medicine will restore Asha's health or bring her back to life if she has Pepelogoo. Gold bars can be traded with the rich lady in town for in-game currency. And finally, there are 150 life drops hidden throughout the game. Collecting ten will add a blue life heart to the life meter.

Items can be permanently missed. Once an area's boss is defeated, that area is inaccessible for the rest of the game.

Plot
The story involves a young girl named Asha, who, upon hearing spirits whisper on the wind pleading for help, embarks on a journey to find and help them. Along the way she becomes the master of a genie and adopts a small monster known as Pepelogoo.

Characters
Asha is a young, green-haired girl dressed in Arabian-influenced nomadic gear. Sensitive to the presence of spirits, Asha is able to hear the pleas of the Elemental Spirits coming from Monster World, and ultimately journeys to become a warrior and free them.
Pepelogoo belongs to a race of small, spherical monsters, who flap their ears to fly. While most Pepelogoos in Monster World are yellow, Asha's is blue. He is seen as more than just a curiosity to several people in Monster World; as in ancient days, the blue ones had been all but wiped out by people fearful of their magical abilities.
Purapril XIII, descendant of Purapril from the previous Monster World games, and ruler of the kingdom. In the remake, her name is spelled as "Praprill" and provides a greater role by acting as the narrator to the game's prologue, as well as giving her boss form a new darker color scheme.
The Sage of Save is an elderly man who travels across Monster World, popping up in unexpected places, and recording people's memories. Gameplay-wise, by talking to him, the player can save their progress so far. In the remake, as the player can save on the fly, he offers gameplay advice on the loading screens and in the in-game pause menu.
The Lamp Spirit is a sarcastic spirit being who resides in an old oil lamp. He becomes Asha's companion and servant on her quest, which he treats as just another mundane activity he will do before he is (as with several classic genie stories) lost for another one thousand years. He is the one who transports Asha to and from Monster World.
Elemental Spirits, the four Companions from the previous game:
Rotto, a young fire-breathing dragon, grandson to the Elder Dragon, who provided much-needed assistance in-and-around Begonia, the Dragon Village.
Shabo, a Grim Reaper-esque wraith who offered aid in the frozen wasteland of Childam, the Darkworld Village.
Hotta, a Dwarf, whose presence is located in the swampy area of Lilypad, the Dwarf Village.
Priscilla, a Fairy Sprite originally hailing from Alsedo, the Fairy Village. She previously appears in Wonder Boy in Monster World but has no major role.

Legacy
Monster World IV was included as one of the 42 games on the Sega Genesis Mini. In August 2020, a full 3D remake of Monster World IV, titled Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, was announced. The game, which features 3D graphics, gameplay enhancements, new modes, and voice acting, was developed by Artdink for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Steam. It was released in May 2021 for Switch and PlayStation 4, and in June 2021 for PC, published by ININ Games in the West and G Choice in Japan.

Notes

References

External links

1994 video games
Sega video games
Sega Genesis games
Side-scrolling role-playing video games
PlayStation Network games
Video games featuring female protagonists
Virtual Console games for Wii
Wonder Boy (video game series)
Xbox 360 Live Arcade games
Single-player video games
Platformers
Video games based on Arabian mythology
Video games developed in Japan
Westone Bit Entertainment games

Monster World IV


The 50-Miler Award is an award of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) designed to promote the ideals of Scouting and in Scoutcraft, conservation, self-reliance, and physical fitness.  The award may be earned by Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, Venturers, and leaders.

Award
The 50-Miler Award is presented as a cloth or leather patch and as a decal.  The award may not be worn on the uniform but is affixed to equipment such as backpacks or vehicles, or sewn onto items such as patch vests or blankets. The 50-Miler Award was established in April 1956, along with the Historic Trails Award.

Requirements

Although the 50-Miler is an individual award, the requirements are performed as a group. Groups may be the troop, team, crew, or an ad hoc group made of members of various units. The trip must be properly planned and may include other opportunities for advancement and recognition.  The group must travel a minimum of  on land and/or water in a minimum of five days.  Travel may be by foot, bicycle, canoe, or boat; pack animals may be used where appropriate.  No travel may involve any motorized vehicle.  The group must also complete ten hours of conservation work.  If ten hours of work cannot be completed on the trail, similar work may be done in the group's home area. Even if the award's requirements are completed at a National Jamboree or High Adventure base, the unit's leader must file an application at their local council's service center.

References

External links

Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America

50-Miler Award