For the last quarter century, Steve Richardson has served as a chaplain in the Air Force and while some of his work is conducting religious services, counseling and caring for people, it’s also about running an operation that involves all faiths.
“I'm in charge of the chapel community or the chapel program at an Air Force base and I've been a part of the National Chaplain Corps as well,” Richardson said. “What people don't realize is 80% of the people I work with have no religious background. We work with all different denominations and all different faith groups. But our goal is, in fact, our mission in the chaplain corps is to care for people more than anybody thinks possible.”
Richardson will retire from the service in the fall. Until he takes his new post in Park City Oct. 1, he will meet with the Christian Center staff remotely.
“Honestly, I'm mostly focused on getting out of the military. If you’ve ever been a part of the government, it takes a long time and a lot of meetings. I think most of all, I'm just trying to get to know the team. Just trying to have personal calls with each person and really get to know where their heart is, where their love is, where their passion is, where their zeal is and to figure out how I can best help them to become the person they want to be and help them to be able to care in the most effective way possible.”
Rob Harter will transition from his role as executive director to co-chairman of the board. He will also be spending more time in a coaching and consulting capacity at the counseling center.
“One of the big parts of that is really helping to expand our counseling and Wellness Center,” Harter said. “There have been some special initiatives that I know the board has wanted to do for quite some time. But we just don't have the bandwidth, we didn't have the person who could really put the time into it. So, I'm excited about that because as you know, we've talked many times on this show, the need for mental health continues to expand. And we're just set up really uniquely to be able to provide some unique and different types of services we’d love to expand on.”
The Christian Center’s reach continues to grow. In addition to its thrift shops and food pantries in Park City and Heber, the group is opening a new upscale boutique store at the Outlets Park City. Called Summit Exchange, it will open this month near the Nike Factory Store.
