Endorsements

As Fire Chief for the City of Riverside Fire Department (RFD), I can personally attest to the importance and benefit of having a chaplain to minister to the spiritual and emotional needs of our members. In times of crisis, Chaplain Ballinger is there to offer comfort, guidance and hope. As a retired RFD Fire Captain, Chaplain Ballinger could have pursued a life of leisure; instead, he has chosen a life of service, ministering to RFD, Riverside Police Department and the Riverside District Attorney’s Office, in addition to training others in chaplaincy work. Chaplain Ballinger understands the unique needs and challenges facing first responders who encounter scenes of human suffering and senseless tragedies, and the toll this can take on our members and their families. I am pleased to offer this endorsement for Chaplain Ballinger’s chaplaincy service and dedication.

I recommend Chaplain Steve Ballinger, and Living Shield Ministries, as a great spiritual resource for police officers, firefighters, and all emergency personnel. Steve’s ministry is also a great resource for churches, for training and preparation to minister to their communities, in times of emergency and disaster. Steve, now a Director Div. of Victim Services at Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, only brings experience and compassion, but also has a passion to help others and to honor God, for such a time as this.”

Having been a ‘First Responder’ himself for most of his adult life, Steve Ballinger has a clear understanding of the unique pressures facing our fire and law enforcement professionals.

Steve’s tireless commitment to ‘walk with officers’ during the most trying of times provides the kind of spiritual and emotional support our ‘First Responders’ need.

It is without hesitation that I recommend Chaplain Steve Ballinger and Living Shield Ministries.

Chaplain Ballinger aided the men and women of the Riverside Police Department and our residents in helping to cope with the senseless killings of Officers Ryan Bonaminio and Michael Crain. Chaplain Ballinger took on this heavy burden of offering comfort while experiencing his own health challenges at the time. Chaplain Ballinger is a man of strength and character and provided inspiration and spiritual peace to a grieving Department and City.

Chaplain Steve Ballinger has served as volunteer Chaplain to the Riverside Police and Fire Departments and the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office for many years. In this role he provides support to the men and women who risk their lives for us on a daily basis as well as supporting victims of crime, accident and fire and their families. Chaplain Ballinger brings comfort to those in need at all hours of the day and night and in any weather condition. If you find it in your heart to support his work you will be doing our city a favor.

Chaplain Steve Ballinger is a unique asset to the Riverside community. It has been my pleasure and honor to witness first-hand Steve’s tireless dedication to our city and county. Whenever the need presents itself in the Riverside Police or Fire Departments or the County District Attorneys Office, Steve can be counted on to make his self available before even being asked. The compassion, generosity of spirit and experience he brings to the task are unbelievable. Because he was a first responder before dedicating himself full-time to the ministry, he brings a highly realistic point of view to his chaplain’s duties. Riverside’s crisis response and management functions are highly enhanced because of Steve’s contributions through the various chaplaincy programs in which he participates, as well as his online Living Shield Ministries, and through the youth program, Campus Connections which he also helped to get started. Steve is also a great volunteer manager of the RPD’s chaplaincy program and, because he is so widely respected, he has brought in other chaplains to help serve our employees and our community. I rely on Steve’s advice and counsel, not only through his official chaplain duties, but also as a trusted member of the Riverside community. It is my honor to recommend him highly.

Chaplain Steve Ballinger is an amazing man who has dedicated his life to others so that they may move forward in their own lives with a strong feeling of love, compassion, emotional, and spiritual support from their brotherhood, family, community, country, and faith in God. Having known Steve for many years, I am comforted by the fact that he is in our Inland Southern California Region on a daily basis, on call 24/7 to minister to others during the unfortunate times of crisis in our communities. Whether consoling those impacted by natural disaster, or at the scene of tragic incident involving the death or severe injury of our public safety personnel, Steve and his team of Living Shield Ministry Chaplains are there to comfort the families, colleagues, and community at-large. Compassion, Respect, Love, and Honor for our public safety personnel and their families who support them every day are four words that are never spoken enough; four that run through the blood of Chaplain Steve Ballinger. I am proud and honored to know him and call him a friend.

As a widow of a slain deputy and past national president of an organization that reaches out to fallen law enforcement officers’ families, I know firsthand Chaplain Steve Ballinger has the training, experience, and compassion to properly respond and manage the critical incident when an unexpected tragedy occurs.

Living Shield Ministries is an indispensable asset to the community it serves and to those that serve the community.

Having personally witnessed the dedication of Chaplain Steve Ballinger over the past several years, I am pleased to endorse his vision. While Chaplain Ballinger’s devotion to the ministry of Christian services is unquestionable, his personal commitment and passion towards the support of law enforcement and fire service personnel is unparalleled. Chaplain Ballinger and Living Shield Ministries are an invaluable resource to the first responder community and those whom they serve.

It is a rare thing to meet someone who is both passionate and equipped to work with both the first responder community as well as the public. Both have their own issues to deal with.

Chaplain Steve Ballinger is one of those rare individuals. Not only is he an ordained pastor but he is also an ordained chaplain. Steve has a passion to minister from a local basis to an international one. It is with extreme pleasure, honor and respect that we recommend Chaplain Steve Ballinger and Living Shield Ministries.

After working with Chaplain Steve Ballinger, Living Shield Ministries, in both domestic and international disasters, it is an honor and privilege to recommend and endorse this ministry.

With his extensive training in crisis intervention and years of experience in Chaplain ministry, he is dependable and faithful servant who will appropriately offer hope and comfort to those who suffer in times of a man-made or natural disaster.

Chaplain Steve Ballinger has worked alongside The Counseling Team International for many years. He is a strong Christian and exhibits these beliefs in all aspects of his assistance. I am very pleased to endorse his chaplaincy and have full confidence in his abilities to assist in helping Emergency Service Personnel.

It is a rare thing these days to see someone put the concerns of others before their own interest. Chaplain Steve Ballinger, my friend and colleague, is one such individual. He has a supreme and tireless devotion in bearing the burdens of others.

I am personally very grateful for Steve’s exceptional compassion as a Chaplain to our nation’s law enforcement, fire service, and emergency personnel. He is professional, well trained, faithful, and ever stalwart as a crisis interventionist. It is my privilege and honor to recommend Chaplain Steve and Living Shield Ministry.

Steve Ballinger is a man of God with a heart to minister to the needs of firefighters and police officers. He responded to the aftermath of 9/11, Katrina and numerous incidents in California. As a former Fire Captain and pastor, he has the heart of a Chaplain. He is a first responder to the first responders and to the community, which they serve.

Chaplain Steve is an effective instructor for those interested in becoming a Chaplain themselves or a person involved in any aspect of crisis intervention. His classes are interesting and informative and offer different aspects of what is required personally to become a someone who can effectively help in a crisis situation. There is never any question that you are working with an expert in his field and yet the classroom setting allows you to be in a comfortable setting for asking questions and putting your newfound knowledge to use. I will definitely be back for more classes!

I highly recommend Chaplain Steve to anyone who is interested in becoming a chaplain or learning to help individuals or groups dealing with grief after trauma. He is a very knowledgeable and passionate instructor!!

Chaplain Ballinger and his team of volunteer chaplains have been a great asset to the advocates, victims and witnesses in the Division of Victim Services.

I have known Chaplain Ballinger for many years and have observed his kind and supporting words to others frequently. Chaplain Ballinger’s passion for his calling is evident from the very time you meet him. I would recommend Chaplain Ballinger for your agencies needs without question.

I would like to offer my full support of the, “Living Shield Ministries”. As a retired Riverside Police Officer and as a seated Riverside City Councilman I can give first hand testimony of the value of the Chaplain program to both Police and the Fire Service.

The Chaplain program is an invaluable tool in the field and back at the station for both Police and Firefighters. The Chaplain’s provide counseling to victims, families and friends at a crime scenes or fire/medical aid scenes and to support the Officers and Firefighters after. I fully support and offer any assistance to the Chaplain Program.

There are few ministries like Living Shield Ministries. Having served as a fire chaplain for several years, I know from experience the value that chaplains provide to first responders and to the victims they serve. I have had a long friendship with Chaplain Steve and the Living Shield Ministry. The training provided is excellent and is beneficial for those desiring to serve as a chaplain. The training is also of great benefit to pastors and church leadership by preparing them to be more effective when their congregation responds to critical events that occur within their community, providing emotional and spiritual care to those in crisis. I highly recommend the training provided by Living Shield Ministries.