North Wildwood Police Department announces appointment of chaplains

PRESS RELEASE

NORTH WILDWOOD - The North Wildwood Police Department is proud to announce the upcoming appointments of Reverend Deborah Moore and Father R. Nicholas Rafael II as Police Chaplains for our organization.

Reverend Deborah Moore is a Christian Non-Denominational Ordained Minister, the founder and Pastor of Living Waters Veterans Memorial Chapel in Wildwood and found and President of Deb Moore Ministries. She has been serving as acting Police Chaplain with the North Wildwood Police Department since 2019 and is the founder and officiant at Sunrise on Sunday and Flags of Liberty events in North Wildwood.

Reverend Moore also serves as Chaplain for VFW Post 9045, CVAC, ACRSD and Cape Regional Hospital.

Father R. Nicholas Rafael II is Pastor of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in North Wildwood. He enrolled in St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in 1992, was ordained to the Diaconate in 1995 and the Holy Priesthood in 1996. 

Father Rafael II was sworn in as Chaplain to the Port Authority of NY/NJ in 2012 and has served them since at Ground Zero, NY/NJ airports and all 9/11 events. He is also a United States Army and United States Air Force veteran.

Members of North Wildwood City Council will make history on Tuesday, April 5 at 5 pm at City Hall, when they establish an ordinance with enthusiastic endorsement to create a police chaplain position for their police department.

The position will be a volunteer unranked role serving under the direction of the Chief of Police. The Police Chaplain role was initiated with the foresight of Chief John Stevenson and Mayor Patrick Rosenello.

Ordinance No. 1871 provides for one or two appointed police chaplains who must be ordained clergy members in good standing. Police chaplains are required to be formally trained and certified, with full background checks and rigorous requirements of a formal application. They must be credentialed in accordance with North Wildwood Police Department rules and regulations.

The duties of the Chaplain include, but are not limited to, assisting the police department in death notifications, station house adjustments and any other duties that may be assigned by the Chief of Police.