GEORGETOWN, Ky. (ABP) — A national chaplaincy group that ministers to the horse-racing community is moving from California to Kentucky at the beginning of 2010.
Race Track Chaplaincy of America Executive Director Enrique Torres (center right) shakes hands with Georgetown College President William Crouch Nov. 10 at a signing of an agreement to relocate the ministry to Georgetown. Also pictured is Larry Martin (far left), a missions consultant with the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and Dan Fick, president of RTCA's board of directors. (Georgetown College photo)
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The Race Track Chaplaincy of America will relocate Jan. 1 from its current home in Inglewood, Calif., to the campus of Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky.
A website describes the RTCA as "an evangelical, interdenominational, Christian organization whose purpose is to minister to those persons involved in all aspects of the horse racing industry."
The group oversees about 72 chaplains who serve at more than 100 racetracks in the United States. RTCA has chaplains at tracks in 11 other countries as well.
A working agreement signed last year by Georgetown and the association "provides for the enhancement and facilitates the mission and programs of both organizations," according to a news release.
The chaplaincy organization has desired to move to the Bluegrass State for some time, noted Enrique Torres, executive director for RTCA.
The organization, formed in 1971, currently calls Hollywood Park near Los Angeles home. "In California, we are in a corner of the country and we want to be in the middle," Torres said. "It will be easier to move among our chaplains."
"Kentucky is the horse capital of the world and RTCA belongs here," noted Paul Ransdell, RTCA's director of development.
Ransdell, a Kentucky native and Georgetown College graduate, was hired by RTCA in August and has maintained an office at Georgetown since then. The rest of the organization will relocate next month.
"RTCA is in a transformational kind of mode," Ransdell said. "This is not just a move for RTCA, this is a move up."
The shift to Georgetown makes sense for the chaplaincy group, Torres noted, because of its proximity to so many other racing industry organizations, many of which are headquartered in the state.
RTCA also can tap in to the resources of Georgetown College, Ransdell said.
Specifically, RTCA holds chaplaincy training each year during its annual meeting. Organizers plan to "draw upon the talent and the expertise of the college in terms of instructors, facilitators and presenters that are either faculty or alumni," Ransdell explained.
Such resources will "help to really bolster the quality of our chaplaincy school and help us ensure that we've got better trained, better equipped chaplains doing what they do," he added.
Georgetown College President William Crouch said the partnership between the school and RTCA is "a perfect fit."
"They have the chance to interact with — and possibly recruit — some of our students," Crouch said, specifically noting the school's Equine Scholars program.
Crouch also explained that RTCA's presence on campus could expose ministry-led students to chaplaincy and "a Christian-oriented career path that probably none of them had ever thought of."
Torres said RTCA chaplains do not emphasize denominational affiliation, but rather a "spiritual relationship" with God. "We are trying to move people closer to the Lord," he noted.
The chaplains deal with a great number of needs of those men and women — many of them Hispanics — who live and work on the backsides of racetracks. Often these individuals are caught up in alcoholism, drug abuse and pornography, Torres said.
RTCA chaplains provide "healthy entertainment" for workers to get them away from their troubles. The group also provides English as Second Language and GED classes, Internet access so workers can stay in touch with their families in their home countries, and basic necessities such as clothing and food.
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Drew Nichter is news director for the Western Recorder, news journal of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.