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Thanks for reminding us: All people have spiritual lives and someone to care.
All that casino money coming in...and these workers are uninsured? And I'd love to see their ling quarters. Too bad.
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TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
The Rev. Jack Cordell and Antoinette Siegel, an assistant trainer, watch trainers run the horses. Cordell ministers to workers at PhiladelphiaPark, and begins each day by walking the horse barns and talking with workers.
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PhiladelphiaPark looking for a new chaplain
The prayer list is long at Chapel 'n Chow, the church service held in what is known as the "backside" of the PhiladelphiaPark racetrack.
A jockey crushed her knee after her horse got spooked in a stall. A groomer is battling lymphoma. An exercise rider says simply, "For my wife and kids."
The three are among the 1,000 people who work with the horses each day, often away from the glare of the racetrack. Among them, 150 live at the track. Many show up at the gate, looking for a job, with few belongings. They live in rent-free dormitory rooms with shared bathrooms. They battle isolation, loneliness, depression, and boredom.
As in any other community, some seek help from the divine. More often than not, the Rev. Jack Cordell, the racetrack chaplain, offers an intermediate step.
"A lot of people here need help, and there's no one else to help them," said Bob Bliss, a hot-walker - he walks horses to cool them down after a workout. "The track would be lost without the chaplain."
Cordell, administrative assistant Molly Shallcross, and a small staff of volunteers that includes assistant and translator Rey Roque serve as the racetrack community's connection to whatever help they need.
The chaplain's office at PhiladelphiaPark Casino & Racetrack finds medical care for uninsured workers, and finds clothes, furniture, and transportation for those without them. Cordell provides drug and alcohol addiction counseling, and Shallcross organizes holiday parties for workers' children.
Add to that Cordell's presiding over racetrack chapel and communion services, and you have a job description that is both spiritual and practical.
Cordell, however, is about to move on. He plans to retire in December, and the search is on for a new chaplain.
"When I came here, I didn't know anything about horses and I didn't know anything about racing," said Cordell, 70, who plans to move to North Carolina to be near his children. "This has put me in touch with the special needs that a community can have - more than I [experienced] in any other ministry."
For most of the last year, Cordell has conducted his mission while dealing with his own health crisis. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in December. His name was on a chapel service prayer list alongside those of the people he serves.
The employees on the backside include grooms, trainers, hot-walkers and exercise riders. Many are from other countries and have not seen their relatives in years.
Every morning, the chaplain trudges through the hay, mud and manure, walking the barns and talking with workers. Conversations can range from a friendly chat with jockey Stewart Elliott, 2004 winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, to a whispered exchange with a hot-walker about the need for an appointment to see the chaplain later.
Trainer Suzanne Jenkins chatted from atop Star Marine while exercising the horse on the racetrack circle.
"This is a seven-day-a-week job, so when you have problems, it's nice to have someplace to go for comfort," said Jenkins, whose two children were baptized in the recreation hall that serves as the chaplain's office.
Cordell came to PhiladelphiaPark in 2000, replacing the Rev. Nicholas Salios, who served for 20 years.
Born in east Tennessee, Cordell felt called to the ministry when he was a teenager. He went on to earn a master's degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a doctorate in New Testament interpretation from Bob Jones University.
Cordell was an Army chaplain in Georgia, South Korea, and Kentucky, and a college chaplain, and then settled into pastorships in New York and Pennsylvania before coming to the racetrack.
"I was interested in moving from a church ministry to a more institutional one," Cordell said.
He was selected by the board of the Race Track Chaplaincy of America, Pennsylvania Division, a nonprofit organization that oversees the PhiladelphiaPark chaplain's office. The board pays his salary from a budget supported by contributions from groups such as the frontside management of PhiladelphiaPark and the Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, and churches, organizations and individuals.
The state branch is a part of the national Race Track Chaplaincy of America, which represents 60 chaplains who work at more than 100 racetracks, and training and breeding centers in North America.
Cordell's last official day is Dec. 31. If a new chaplain is not found by then, board members who are clergy and a chaplain intern will fill in.
The board is looking for someone adept at multicultural ministry and flexible enough to help meet the varied needs at the racetrack. Speaking Spanish is a plus, said the Rev. Linda Haughton, board president.
As Cordell winds down his racetrack ministry, he is in good health. His lymphoma is in remission. Cordell attributes the positive outlook he maintained throughout his treatment to his "spiritual foundation" and the support from the board and the people at the track.
"I'm going to miss him when he's gone," said Elizabeth Daniels, a hot-walker who regularly attends the monthly Chapel 'n Chow service, catered by a local church. "I don't know who's going to replace him, but I hope they're ready."
Contact staff writer Kristin E. Holmes at 610-313-8211 or kholmes@phillynews.com.
