'Passion for people'

Staff Chaplain Aaron Knapp attends a case management meeting Thursday at Open House Ministries. Knapp was named chaplain of the year by a Nazarene chaplaincy organization that includes more than 900 people in military, hospital, police/fire and prison chaplaincies. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Glancing heavenward, chaplain Aaron Knapp says that “God’s thumb in my back” was part of a career change that led him from a Salmon Creek church to a downtown homeless shelter. (ZACHARY KAUFMAN/The Columbian)

Case manager Ron Brannon, left, and chaplain Aaron Knapp discuss a family’s progress in the program offered by Open House Ministries. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Aaron Knapp's ministry sits between the county jail and what literally is the other side of the tracks.

It's not the sort of setting to attract national attention.

But Knapp's work at Open House Ministries earned him Chaplain of the Year honors from the Church of the Nazarene.

The church's Chaplaincy Services supports more than 860 chaplains in a wide range of settings across the United States. Knapp's role at the downtown Vancouver homeless shelter stands out — and so does the way he approaches his work, said Dwight Jennings, Chaplaincy Services director.

"Of the 886 chaplains I support, the number in homeless shelters and rescue missions is five or fewer. Not many," said Jennings, who is based in Kansas.

"Usually the award goes to someone with higher visibility we all applaud," Jennings said. "We all can get behind an Army chaplain working with soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan who is putting his life on the line every day."

This year, Jennings said, the Gospel of Matthew provided some perspective.

"When you visit people in prison, when you feed the hungry: That is fulfilling what Jesus said is essential. 'You have done it unto me.'

"It's not always pretty in that environment, and a lot of people shy away from that," Jennings said. "You've got to have a tremendous passion for people. And passion is easier to generate for people who are more like ourselves."

Knapp said he was steered to Open House in 2001 after a 14-year tenure as pastor at Liberty Bible Church of the Nazarene in Salmon Creek.

Knapp credited "God's thumb in my back" with prompting the shift. But some personal connections with shelter staff played a role when the non-denominational ministry decided it was ready for an official staff chaplain.

Knapp is a pastor to the residents of Open House, as well as its transitional housing programs, which amounts to a congregation of 200 or so. He teaches four classes a week geared around personal improvement. He is part of the case-management team that reviews how residents are living up to their agreements.

That's just his regularly scheduled assignments.

"I do counseling, talk about issues and their progress through the program, and sometimes just let them vent," Knapp said.

He also accompanies some of the residents on their journeys through legal and supervisory systems.

"I'll go to court with them," Knapp said. "I'll verify their involvement in the program. In some cases, it affects the outcome of their sentencing. I visit their extended family members who are in jail or in the hospital."

"You have to meet people where they are on their life's journey," said Merv Friberg, the regional coordinator who nominated Knapp. Friberg is senior staff chaplain at the Legacy Emanuel trauma center in Portland.

Knapp also offers an ear to staff members, helping them maintain their perspective in that he called a crisis-rich environment.

For pastors of a typical church congregation, "Most of the people have a degree of normalcy," Knapp said. "Once in a while there is a radical situation, like an illness.

"This is considerably different. I edged my way in, walking around and talking to people. The biggest issue was winning trust," he said, adding that his job title "didn't entitle me to anything."

Knapp has seen enough success stories to know that Open House can help people move along to productive lives. It happened at breakfast recently at a Hazel Dell restaurant.

"I felt a couple of arms around me," Knapp said. "It was a waitress and a cook who had been former residents here. That happens once or twice a month. Or, I'll be walking through a store and hear a familiar voice; it's very gratifying."

Knapp also hears the other side, from people who'd been at Open House four or five years ago.

"I'm the only pastor they know, and they have financial or legal issues or need shelter again," Knapp said. "I wish they were all success stories, but they're not."

Tom Vogt: 360-735-4558 or tom.vogt@columbian.com.