LANSING, Mich. — At the Two Men and a Truck corporate headquarters, the Rev. Jeff Williams is affectionately known as "Chappie."

The minister's nickname is a friendly moniker that belies the significance of his role in the life of the moving company. Mr. Williams, 48, is the business's corporate chaplain, hired to support and console employees, many of whom have no clergy, church or religious affiliation to call their own.

Not long ago, an office manager at the Two Men moving company's main office fell ill with cancer. She was just 32, and as her co-workers dealt with the shock of her diagnosis, the agony of her chemotherapy and, later, the finality of her death at such a young age, Mr. Williams was there on the job to help them with their grief.

"He just reached out to a lot of us and helped us cope and face her death," recalls CEO Melanie Bergeron, who runs the company with her two brothers. Miss Bergeron has embraced the idea of having a personal minister for their international company, which includes 200 franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Ireland.

"Right now, we are doing a lot of budget cutting because of the economy, but not Jeff. He adds real value to our corporate culture," she said. "He offers our employees a private tool to cope with their daily anxieties and problems — divorce, death, parenting, even officiating at weddings and baptisms. He brings a comfort to our people and shows that we care."

Hare Varnon, a Carroll County, Md., minister who has worked as a corporate chaplain for five years, is on call day and night to respond to any employee needs, covering issues as diverse as illness, job security and family stress.

"I'm nondenominational, so I encounter all faith groups in the workplace and those who don't believe at all," says Mr. Varnon, who works as chaplain to five Baltimore-area companies. "You want to ensure you care for them but not try to offend them in any way. We do everything by permission."

Because he has been around many of his employees for several years, he knows their personal histories and, in many cases, their families. In that sense, his presence makes him a part of their corporate culture, and he often attends company social functions at their invitation.

The response from his employees and company managers has been gratifying, says Mr. Varnon, who worked as a bank branch manager before turning to a new career of ministering in the workplace. When he recently took a week's vacation, he returned to be told by workers and bosses that he had been missed.

"I don't approach them with the Bible telling them that they have to believe what I believe. What I try to do is just share whatever they need and care for them right where they are," he says. "I think that most companies could benefit from a corporate chaplain. It allows the employees to be open and honest.

"One guy told me that having me there allowed him to cut himself open and spill his guts and know that he's not going to hear about it in the office tomorrow. Sometimes employees have something that is pressing on them, and there is no one to talk to and no one they can confide in. I know that once they get this off their chest, they are going to work harder. And that helps any company out."

Across the nation, an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 workplace chaplains are on the job, ministering to a roster of companies large and small as well as such corporate giants as Tyson Foods and Coca-Cola.

A handful of U.S. firms supply corporate pastors to companies. The ministers, many with graduate degrees and most nondenominational, are intensely trained for ministry in the workplace, following strict guidelines about their roles in offices. They are hired on a contract basis to visit companies weekly and offer pastoral care and concern to workers who need a spiritual boost or simply a friendly and independent ear to vent.

Their services, which cost an estimated $8 to $15 per employee each month, are voluntary, meaning workers don't have to interact with them if they aren't interested. For those who are, the ministers show up weekly to make their rounds, pass out business cards and arrange lunch-break and after-hours meetings for those who ask.

Most are on call 24/7, wearing pagers and carrying cell phones with 800 numbers that make them a round-the-clock lifeline for employees who may be in crisis. Use of their services also is confidential, and the ministers don't report back to bosses about who they have seen and why.

"We only do what we do in the life of an employee with their permission," says Dwayne Reece, vice president of field development for Corporate Chaplains of America, based in Wake Forest, N.C. "Our chaplains are there to serve employees regardless of their faith background or no faith background."

Mr. Reece's company started with just one chaplain in 1996 and now has 100 full-time ministers on staff. The company provides clergy for 310 companies in 23 states, including construction, finance and law.

Once on the job site, the chaplains walk around, saying hello, asking employees how their day is going, if they saw a weekend ballgame — anything that allows them to make a connection, he said.

"It's a moment of encouragement designed to let the employees get to know their chaplain on a first-name basis. From there, they know the chaplain is available to talk to them," he said.

Mr. Reece cites statistics that show that 15 percent of people will go through a major life crisis in 12 months, whether it is a marriage issue, a lost job, a financial problem or even a child who gets in trouble at school. While 90 percent of people will report that they believe in some type of God, 70 percent would not be able to identify a priest or pastor by name, and 70 percent are not active in any faith community, he says.

"Therefore, most people don't have someone to turn to when the bottom drops out," Mr. Reece said. "We think there is just a natural place for a chaplain to have a role in their life to turn to when that crisis hits. It doesn't have to be a major crisis. Everybody defines it different."

His company focuses on training, calling it key to their success. Chaplains must have seven to 10 years of real-life work experience and a college degree before applying for the job. Once hired, they go through 150 hours of DVD-based training, as well as classroom experiences and continuing education. The company has seen growth at 20 percent to 25 percent per year.

The Rev. Ron Klimp founded a similar company, Workplace Chaplains, in Cadillac, Mich., in 1999. They now have 21 full-time ministers scattered throughout western Michigan and Wisconsin serving 29 companies that range from a half-dozen employees to a couple of thousand.

He says as the economy struggles, it becomes more difficult for businesses to fund an office pastor. But that is often when a company needs one most, when the emotional toll of a financial or other type of crisis hits home, he says.

"We've actually had more demand where we are working as people get laid off," he says, noting the toll automotive industry failures have had on Michigan.

"Any crisis that threatens our status quo, our future, makes us nervous, gives people a reason to ask bigger questions. Is this all there is? What is the importance of life? And how do I get through this crisis with some extra help from above?"

When employees are struggling and want to find some answers, his ministers are happy to step in, working with them on issues such as substance abuse, health problems, family dilemmas and budgeting, even preaching at their funerals.

"People are probably more isolated today in our seemingly connected world than ever before," he says of the need for his services in the workplace. "Almost everyone 20 years ago had an extended family nearby, they had neighbors who knew them and a pastor and a congregation that gathered around in difficult times. But now, many people don't, so having a resource when an issue affects their work … is an amazingly effective way to meet those needs."

Keith Granger, the CEO of Granger Inc., a waste collection company in Lansing, also utilizes the service of an on-the-job minister for his 200-employee business. He says Granger is a "Christian-owned and -operated" employer and says he has only heard positive feedback about the chaplain service.

"We just think it's the right thing to do," he says. "Their approach is not thumping people over the head with a Bible. It's being there and being a resource and helping people through tough times."

Those include going to court with employees for custody or divorce hearings, or even presiding over a baptism.

"I'm sold on it," he says. "I know some people might perceive this as frivolous, spending money on something like this. I don't think so. I think it's a great benefit for our people."

Mr. Williams, who has both a master's and a doctoral degree, has been a workplace minister for three years and serves his office congregation at both Granger and Two Men and a Truck. He appreciates the praise and calls his job "very relationship and people intensive," in many ways different than working as a pastor of a church congregation.

He estimates that initially, about 20 percent in a company think it's a great idea and another 20 percent think it's a bad idea, while 60 percent remain in the middle. After about a year, "you see a major shift," he says. "You have 70 or 80 percent who are on board."

He is pleased that companies invest not only in their labor force but also their spiritual growth. His clients are diverse, from all types of religions and denominations as well as walks of life. Although he was ordained as a Baptist minister, "people of various religious backgrounds have expressed appreciation for my ministry, not just people who are of some Christian faith."

In today's difficult times, when many people are soul searching, he says he can respect a company's vision for supporting workers not only with a paycheck but by offering a spiritual barometer of sorts.

"It identifies how much value they place in the employees, in the holistic sense of the word," he said. "I think it's a recognition that people have a personal life and that line between the personal life and professional life can be confused. A lot of times, what we do is preventative interventions, to keep what could be huge problems from ever developing to that degree and extent.

"We are there to help people to walk though tragic situations and minimize the fallout," he adds. "By investing part of the profit margin in the well-being of their employees, I think in return these companies receive rewards from that."