For the Rev. Randy Garner, life has always been about the journey. One chapter in that journey recently came to a close as Garner, James City County’s inaugural volunteer police chaplain, retired after 25 years.
Garner and his wife Cindy moved from North Carolina to Williamsburg in 1996.
“I don’t know how many people will understand this, but we felt the Lord had laid a burden on us to come to Williamsburg and start a church,” Garner said.
So, that’s what they did.
In 1997, the Garners opened Christ Community Church. They started out by renting space from Jamestown High School to hold services. The church, which is still operational today and led by Pastor Joshua Householder, is located off Richmond Road in Toano.
In 2000, Garner signed up for the James City County Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy on a whim.
After doing a couple of ride-alongs with officers, he realized the department didn’t have a police chaplain. Police chaplains provide emotional and spiritual support to law enforcement officers, the families and the community, serving as a confidential and comforting presence during crises, such as death notifications, traumatic incidents and personal stress.
The Rev. Randy Garner
“The police officers making death notifications, dealing with tragedy, all of those types of things — many of them may have had their own private pastor or church, but a lot of them didn’t, and there was a need there,” Garner said.
Even though he had never intended or thought about becoming a police chaplain, he felt called to do something.
“That Citizen Police Academy was where that was birthed,” he said. “I saw a need, and I tried to meet it, and that’s what it was for me.”
Assistant Police Chief Steve Humphries met Garner in 2000 during a ride-along.
“I was working patrol and Randy rode with me one night,” Humphries remembered. “We had some nice conversations. I won’t say my faith was tested, but there was a natural disaster that took the lives of several kids and that really hit me. We conversed about that, and I felt a lot better after talking with Randy about it.”
Though most police chaplains are volunteer, they are trained and certified.
Once Garner learned that James City County was interested in having a chaplain, he became certified through the International Conference of Police Chaplains, the world’s largest membership, training and advocacy association for law enforcement chaplaincy.
Like anything Garner does, he put his heart and soul into it. Not only did he volunteer with James City County Police, but he also supported James City County’s fire and sheriff’s departments when needed. He also made himself available to the city of Williamsburg and served as Sentara’s hospital chaplain for 27 years.
“It was an honor and a privilege to be able to do it,” Garner said of his volunteerism. “The things I’ve done is because I feel like it’s what God was calling me to do as a pastor, to sow the community, to make a difference. I have truly loved it.”
And community members say he had an impact.
“Having Randy as a resource was huge,” Humphries said. “Some of the things we deal with … to have someone to reach out to and to talk to was — I just can’t say enough about the importance of that. He’s definitely going to be missed.”
When announcing Garner’s retirement, the police department described him as “a man of proven character and a trusted confidante,” saying that “his steady presence, compassion and integrity have been a source of strength through the department’s most difficult and defining moments.”
One of those moments came early on his chaplaincy when a police officer was shot in the line of duty. Garner was at the hospital in Norfolk when the officer arrived via the Nightingale medical helicopter, and he was there for the family and fellow officers. The officer survived. A few months later the police chief at the time called him in to his office.
“He called me in and wanted to thank me for what I had done during that tense situation because it allowed him, as the police chief, to do the legal things that needed to be done, the press, etc.,” Garner recalled. “He said, ‘I realized quickly that I didn’t have to be as concerned about the physical or spiritual care of the officer because I knew you were there.’ I think that moment gave me the most credibility.”
Though Garner was there for the difficult moments such as tragedies and funerals, he was also there for the good times. He would frequently make rounds in the station, praying with those who wanted to and was a star pitcher for the department’s softball team, where he earned the nickname “Chappy.”
Throughout his 25 years with the department, working with six different police chiefs, Garner made his mark. He was recently honored with the James City County Police Department’s Distinguished Service Medal for his years of faithful commitment to the emotional and spiritual well-being of its officers, staff and community members.
Though his time in the Williamsburg area has come to an end, he’s looking forward to the next chapter — one he doesn’t describe as “retirement” but more like “retooling.”
He and his wife are moving to Nashville, North Carolina, where he may become the police chaplain for the department there. An avid motorcyclist, he’s also looking forward to taking out his beloved Harley-Davidson and his new trike.
“I’ll continue to serve the Lord, travel and doing meetings, do a lot of coaching with others, but I don’t plan on sitting on a rocking chair,” he said with a laugh.
As he prepares to move from the community in which he served for so long, Garner said he has just one wish.
“I hope people see the Lord in me — that’s the main thing.”
Amy McCluskey, amccluskey79@gmail.com
