Paul Chaim Schenck (born 1958) is a Catholic priest, pastoral counselor, and clinical chaplain.[1]
Early life and work
Schenck was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, to Henry P. Schenck and Marjorie M. Apgar. He has two sisters and an identical twin brother with whom he was raised in Grand Island, New York. His father was born Jewish and his mother converted to Judaism from the Catholic and Anglican (Episcopal) churches. He and his brother attended Hebrew School in nearby Niagara Falls until the sixth grade. He was married in 1977 in an interfaith ceremony in Niagara Falls, New York, presided by Paul Fodor, the Hungarian Holocaust survivor and author. At the time, Schenck was a student in the Institute of Jewish Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Schenck became director of the Empire State Teen Challenge center, a faith-based residential treatment program for persons with "life-controlling problems" such as substance use and abuse, antisocial behaviors, criminal conduct, and relational conflicts. Schenck became a born-again Christian and was baptized at age 16. He was active in evangelical churches until joining the Catholic Church. Admitted to priesthood through the Pastoral Provision of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI, he is a chaplain with faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services.
Schenck graduated from the Luther Rice University in 1984 with a B.A. in biblical studies. In 2005, he received a Master Certificate in executive leadership from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. He received a master's degree in Catholic health care ethics from the Bioethics Institute at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, CT. He received a Master of Science degree in psychology from Divine Mercy University, and the Doctor of Education from St. Thomas University, the Archdiocesan University of Florida. He received the Master of Jewish Professional Studies and was granted a certificate of Interfaith Leadership from Gratz College, the historic Jewish college in Philadelphia. Schenck also holds a graduate degree in religious studies from the Catholic International University. A member of the Military Counseling Initiative of the American Association of Christian Counselors, he is board certified in clinical chaplaincy and pastoral counseling.
Schenck entered the ministry in May, 1982 when he was ordained by the presbytery of the New York District of the Assemblies of God. He had previously held the license to preach with the Elim Fellowship, a revivalist missionary group affiliated with his alma mater, Elim Bible Institute. In 2005, Fr. Schenck united with the Catholic Church and was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg (PA) and is endorsed and holds faculties with the Archdiocese for the Military Services. He has been a pastor, Parochial vicar and diocesan Deacon formation director.
Schenck has taught at the Elim Bible College, Lima, New York; the Reformed Episcopal Seminary, Philadelphia; the Thomas More College in Manchester, New Hampshire, and The Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He has lectured at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg, MD, and Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia. In 2019 ProQuest published his research in the experience and operation of empathy based on the theoretical work of Edith Stein, Saint Theresa Benedicta a Croce.
Rev. Paul Schenck is currently a senior chaplain in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a professional member of the National Association of Catholic Chaplains, and of the National Council of Catholic VA Chaplains.
Works
Daughter of Israel, Daughter of the Church, The Life and Martyrdom of Edith Stein, Saint Theresa Benedicta of the Cross.
Spiritual Care for Schizophrenia: An examination of the Biology, Phenomenology, and Spirituality.
Ten Words That Will Save A Nation, with Rob Schenck
Constitutions of American Denominations, with Rob Schenck (3 volumes, Hein Law Publishing, 1983)
Annotated Letter from the Birmingham Jail and Bonhoeffer on Nascent Human Life (National Clergy Council, 1989; 1990)
A Tyranny of Consensus (Vital Issues Press, 1993)
The Blackstone Commentaries on the Common Law (4 volumes, Hein Law Publishing, 1994)
Empathy Towards Persons (ProQuest, 2019)
Divorce After Conversion (Gratz College/Researchgate, 2020)
Jeremiah: A Psycho-social Profile (Gratz College/Researchgate, 2020)
Early American Jewish Personalities (Gratz College/Researchgate, 2021)
Eastern European Jewish Culture (Gratz College/Researchgate, 2021)
Who Converted the Great Synagogue into a Movie Theater? (2021, Gratz College/Researchgate)
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