Delaware State Police Announces New Chaplain

The Delaware State Police is proud to present its newest Chaplain, Rabbi Nick Renner

Rabbi Renner has been the Associate Rabbi and Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Beth Shalom, located in Wilmington, since July 2021. He is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina and studied at Duke University. While attending Duke University, he earned the International Comparative Studies (ICS) Distinguished Thesis Award in 2005 after completing his thesis on the Israeli disengagement from Gaza. Rabbi Renner graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Comparative Studies (ICS) with the honors distinction of cum laude in 2007. He earned a Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters and the title of Rabbi from Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2014.

Rabbi Renner began his career as an Assistant Rabbi at Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation of Pacific Palisades in California from August 2014 until April 2018. During this time, he serviced his community by performing his rabbinical duties at baby-naming ceremonies, weddings, ‘coming-of-age’ ceremonies, and funerals. Rabbi Renner also worked with the Israel Matters Committee and taught sessions on contemporary Israel. In May of 2018, he began his academic career at the University of Delaware Hillel as the Senior Jewish Educator. While in this position, he worked with undergraduate students, the religious life programming board, and Hillel’s engagement internship. He also taught academic courses in University of Delaware’s Jewish Studies program.

For more than twenty years, Rabbi Renner has played guitar and bass in various musical groups encompassing the genres of rock, funk, blues, hip-hop, jazz, and folk. He has also played live and in-studio performances in North Carolina, Philadelphia, West Los Angeles, Delaware, and Netanya, Israel. Rabbi Renner resides in Delaware with his wife, Kimmy, and their child, Isaac.

Delaware State Police welcomes Rabbi Renner with open arms. We are confident that he will strengthen the inspirational leadership within our agency.