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The Chaplains Academy Staff and Leadership
The staff and leadership here at The Academy is comprised of men and women who love, care and pray for every single person we teach. If you have questions for any of our staff, feel free to reach out and email them. Each member of our teaching team is highly experienced, credentialed, and dedicated to the craft of Christian Life Coaching in our student relationships.
Chaplain Dr. Mike Bartley DMin BCC SC CMCLC
Academy Director - Academic Dean
Email Academy@ChristianChaplains.org
Mike is a Board-Certified Chaplain, Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor Educator-Coach, and Certified Master Christian Life Coach with a passion for forming Christ-centered leaders. He serves as the Program Director and Dean of the Academy at Christian Chaplains & Coaching, where he leads curriculum design, faculty development, and pastoral training rooted in biblical truth and spiritual maturity. He has more than 30 years' experience in spiritual and pastoral care ministry as a Pastor and Chaplain, serving in hospitality ministry, church, prison, marketplace, hospice, and clinical chaplaincy.
In his role as a CPE Supervisor Educator-Coach, Mike cultivates growth environments where students are challenged to reflect theologically, listen deeply, and serve from a place of spiritual formation rather than performance. He brings together academic excellence, a pastoral heart, and practical ministry experience to raise up leaders who will provide faithful and effective pastoral care with humility, wisdom, and courage.
His purpose: "I exist to lead average lives into Abundant Living"
A life verse that fuels his ministry is:
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?” – Jeremiah 32:27 (KJV)
Chaplain Dr. Angella Allison-Davis PsyD MDiv MA BCC SC CMCLC
Communications Director - Dean and Professor
Email Communications@ChristianChaplains.org
Angella is a Board-Certified Chaplain, Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor-Educator, and Certified Christian Life Coach with a deep passion for spiritual care, soul formation, and transformational learning. She currently serves as the Communications Program Director at Christian Chaplains & Coaching.
She holds a Doctorate in Pastoral Psychotherapy, a Master of Divinity, and a Master’s in Health Administration with a concentration in gerontology. Her diverse ministry experience spans healthcare, correctional, community, academic, and congregational settings—each one enriching her calling to walk with others through seasons of growth, grief, and grace.
As a CPE Supervisor Educator-Coach, Angella is known for creating a learning environment that invites authenticity, self-awareness, and theological reflection. Her heart for mentoring student chaplains is grounded in the belief that spiritual care begins with a transformed caregiver.
Through her coaching, teaching, and communication roles, Angella is committed to shaping voices of hope, cultivating presence over performance, and encouraging others to live out their call with wisdom, humility, and boldness. She is joyfully married and finds deep joy in companioning others toward wholeness and vocational clarity—all to the glory of God.
A guiding verse in her life and ministry is:
“Oh, that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain.” – 1 Chronicles 4:10 (NKJV)
Chaplain Dr. James Kirkland DMin MTS BCC SC CMCLC
Founder and Executive Director of Christian Chaplains & Coaching
Email ExecutiveDirector@ChristianChaplains.org
Jim Kirkland holds a Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Supervision from Christian Chaplains & Coaching, Chaplains Academy, and a Master of Theology from Moody Theological Seminary. He is an ordained pastor, a board-certified chaplain, certified master Christian life coach, and serves as a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor, and Training Supervisor.
Jim brings more than 40 years of experience in executive leadership, along with over 30 years of experience in life coaching, chaplaincy, pastoral care, and ministry leadership. He has been happily married and deeply committed to his wife, Virginia, since 1978.
Jim has a deep faith in the saving power of the risen Lord Jesus Christ and is passionate about training, coaching, and equipping believers for effective, Gospel-centered ministry.
Chaplain Barry Surrat MATS BCC SC CMCLC
CPE Program Director
Email CPE@ChristianChaplains.org
A Favorite quote of mine...
“Think yourself empty, Read yourself full, Write yourself clear, Pray yourself keen.”
W.H. Griffith Thomas (1861-1924)
My passion in this season of my life is to develop the best methods for coaching student chaplains in the Art of Chaplaincy by equipping and mentoring novice chaplains with insightful training and the encouragement of unconditional positive regard, just as I was when I was a brand-new chaplain resident in Clinical Pastoral Education.
My goal is to tutor new chaplain candidates by providing a Christ-rooted philosophy in teaching, coaching, and honest and helpful assessments of their skills – particularly in these key areas:
- Teaching chaplains to practice a nonjudgmental presence.
- Coaching chaplains to realize that listening to understand is key to building relationships.
- Instructing chaplains to seek companionship with those suffering emotional and spiritual pain.
- Leaning into uncomfortable feelings and learn to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations.
- Helping chaplains to become more self-aware and use their story to inform their spiritual care.
I was introduced to spiritual care through the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) process, and this training transformed the way I viewed myself, allowing me the space to examine my deepest fears, wounds, and strengths. Through the efforts of faithful peers and challenges from my CPE Supervisors, along with the mentoring of staff chaplains and other medical staff, I discovered within myself a calling and a passion to walk with others who are wounded during the trials of life. The debt of gratitude I owe to everyone who encouraged, challenged, and cared for my soul can never be repaid, but it can be paid forward. This is my endeavor and goal for people I encounter as a CPE Supervisor Educator-Coach.
Chaplain Mickey Weikel MDIV BCC
Supervisor Coach Candidate
Email Mickey@ChristianChaplains.org
Mickey is a board-certified chaplain and Supervisor Coach Candidate with a deep commitment to mentoring and equipping others for compassionate, faith-based service. Mickey began his career in the U.S. Marine Corps before transitioning into pastoral ministry, where he served as an associate pastor in West Virginia for six years.
He holds a Bachelor of Science from Lee University and a Master of Divinity from Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Over the past two decades, Mickey has provided spiritual care and leadership in a variety of settings, including churches, hospitals, and with the U.S. Navy, where he served in roles ranging from congregational pastor to pastoral care residency supervisor and senior clinician.
He completed his Clinical Pastoral Education residency and mental health fellowship at the Hampton VA Medical Center with ACPE, earning board certification through the National Association of Veterans Affairs Chaplains. Mickey is passionate about spiritual formation, pastoral presence, and supporting individuals through life’s most challenging moments.
Chaplain Mary Flin MDiv BCC
Supervisor Coach Candidate
Email Mary@ChristianChaplains.org
Mary graduated from Manhattan Christian College in 1986 with a Bacehlor of Science in Bible/Christian Education and an Emphasis in Counseling. She earned the Master of Arts in Theology (MAT) from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2019. She married Ross in 1979 and they served together for 23 years until his death in 2003.
Mary is Director and Dean of the Seminary of Urban Leadership (S.O.U.L.) which offers classes in the community, county jail and state women’s prison in Topeka, Kansas. In January of 2023, she completed
basic chaplaincy training and, soon after, the S.O.U.L. Center for Urban Chaplaincy was launched. Mary completed Clinical Pastoral Education in spring of 2024 and received ACCC certification in 2025.
She served bi-vocationally for many years and has had extraordinary opportunities to receive on-the-job training in nearly every arena navigated by those impacted by poverty and/or incarceration. She has worked with homelessness, domestic violence, mental illness, incarceration, neighborhood ministry, and
crisis care supervision.
Through chaplaincy training, Mary realized the potential impact of spiritual care in high poverty neighborhoods and the spaces through which neighbors' journey. She began practicing chaplaincy in her own neighborhood, chasing the question: “Considering the documented positive impact of spiritual care on social determinants observed in healthcare spaces, what might happen if every urban neighborhood had a chaplain of their own?”
Shoulder to shoulder, Mary and her neighbors, church, students and friends are providing intentional, compassionate engagement, envisioning healthy communities and seeing, firsthand, a tangible difference in the lives of those affected by various adversities, including poverty, incarceration, homelessness, mental illness and addiction.
Chaplain Jason Semans MDiv BCC
Supervisor Coach Candidate
Email Jason@ChristianChaplains.org
Jason and his wife, Karin, have two adult children. Jacob lives in Michigan, and Megan lives in Texas. He received a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from Ferris State University and his Master's in Divinity from Western Theological Seminary (both in Michigan) in 2008 and his ordination is with the Reformed Church in America.
He began volunteer chaplaincy while still in seminary, with an internship. This is where he discovered his deep love for chaplaincy. He served as pastor at Maplewood Reformed Church, Holland, Mi. He then served Wright Christian Reformed Church and Kanawha Christian Reformed Church in Kanawha, Iowa.
Jason first took his CPE with us in 2021, while in Iowa, and volunteering at two local hospitals as chaplain.
Recently, Jason and Karin moved to lower Eastern Michigan, and he took a position as Chaplain at Ohio Living Swan Creek Life Plan community.
Chaplain Ann Marie Forrest BCAC
Academic Assistant
Email AcademicAssistant@ChristianChaplains.org
Ann-Marie is a Board Certified Associate Chaplain and enjoys learning and reading. She is married to her husband for over 38 years, and they have two adult children. She lives in New England and enjoys all 4 seasons that God provides. She received Chaplain ordination and completed Chaplain
certification process with Christian Chaplains & Coaching.
As Teaching Assistant, Ann-Marie assists the students and teachers in the Chaplains Academy and Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). She enjoys being a certified Biblical Counselor and a mentor to women in her
community. Ann-Marie has been with Christian Chaplains & Coaching since 2020.
Chaplain Virginia Kirkland
Administrative Assistant
Email AdminAssist@ChristianChaplains.org
Virginia is happily married to Jim and enjoys living in Southern Georgia. They attend Flint Reformed Baptist Church and enjoy working together to serve our chaplains.
She is experienced with bookkeeping and administrative services, so supporting chaplain candidates
toward their goal of chaplaincy is a special joy. She serves as our bookkeeper, administrative assistant to our Executive Director, and takes care of enrolling our students and prospective students into their respective courses.