VANCOUVER, B.C. (RNS) David Wells readily admits that Pentecostal Christians are not exactly well-known for leading multi-faith efforts.

After all, Wells’ church, the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, has close ties to the Assemblies of God in the U.S., which has produced polarizing figures like evangelists Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker and Benny Hinn, and even former vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

But Wells — who has already been a chaplain at the 2006 Turin games and the summer games in Athens and Beijing — believes he’s “fully qualified” to serve as the official head of multi-faith chaplaincy services at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Pentecostal leader is in charge of coordinating more than 40 clergy from five major religious traditions — Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism — for the games.

Wells acknowledged with a laugh that Pentecostals are “not recognized for working in interfaith” organizations.

In fact, when people hear that Wells has spent years working with interfaith leaders through the Olympic movement, he said many “rightfully” respond with a shocked: “Huh!?”

Many just can’t believe a Pentecostal, whose leaders generally teach that those who don’t accept Jesus Christ as their savior will suffer eternal damnation, would be able to support clergy from competing Christian denominations and other faiths, he said.

Even though Wells, who resides in Metro Vancouver, is clear that he doesn’t share the theological doctrines of many of his non-evangelical colleagues at the games, he said, “That’s not what this is about.”

Along with the International Olympic Committee, Wells believes the five major world religions have a right “to be at the table” at the Olympics, where clergy can provide athletes with the spiritual support they need during the ups and downs of competition.

The priests, pastors, imams, rabbis and monks who volunteer as Olympic chaplains make themselves available in athletes’ villages to 5,000 competitors and officials from a host of countries through daily worship services, meditation sessions, prayers and one-on-one guidance.

In addition to his busy role as head chaplain at the 2010 Winter Games, Wells is also general superintendent of the 230,000-member Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, and chair of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the politically influential umbrella group for the country’s estimated 3 million evangelicals.

Wells is also on the board of directors of More than Gold, a large Canadian coalition of evangelicals and Catholics that is committed to offering the “radical hospitality” of Jesus Christ to Olympic visitors — through outreach, sharing the gospel and social ministry causes like serving the homeless.

The Vancouver games hadn’t even started when Wells was suddenly called into duty last Friday (Feb. 12) when Nodar Kumaritashvili, a 21-year-old luger from the Republic of Georgia, was killed on a training run.

Since many Georgians are Eastern Orthodox, Wells had to scramble to find Orthodox clergy who could help support Kumaritashvili’s devastated teammates and loved ones.

Cooperating with Orthodox chaplains within the Olympic family, as well as other clergy from Metro Vancouver, Wells did his best to arrange a funeral for Kumaritashvili in Vancouver.

Arrangements were also made to have Kumaritashvili’s body returned home, and Wells helped create two “remembrance” books for athletes and others to sign.

Even though many Winter Olympic athletes come from highly secularized European countries, Wells said Olympic organizers found roughly 70 percent of athletes at the Vancouver games identified themselves as Christians.

As a result, Wells said, 28 of the 40 clergy who serve in the athletes’ villages in Vancouver and Whistler are Christians — mostly Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelicals or Eastern Orthodox.

Muslims and Buddhists make up the next largest religious group, each accounting for roughly 8 percent of athletes, with Jews and Hindus making up much smaller percentages.

In response, local organizers brought in four “full-status” Muslim clergy, four Buddhist clergy of various statuses, three Hindu priests and one rabbi, whose work is supplemented by eight local rabbis.

Although many of the volunteer chaplains are from Canada — mostly British Columbia — about a dozen hail from the Olympic athletes’ home countries.

At the two athletes’ villages, rooms for worship or meditation are off-limits to the public or the media for security reasons — mostly related to fears of terrorist attacks, such as the one that targeted Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Summer Games.

Wells has already prepared himself for skeptics who question whether athletes seek out chaplains’ service solely to seek divine intervention in the quest for a medal. “But rare is the athlete who comes in praying to win,” Wells said.

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The closest most Winter athletes come to praying for victory is to ask God for help in “doing their best” or “to not perform half-heartedly.”

Speaking in the Christian context in which he’s most familiar, Wells said some Olympians might say they “want to bring honor to Christ” through their skiing, sliding or skating.

Even though relatively few athletes seek out the chaplains’ services, Wells said many end up quietly doing so by attending a small religious service, meditating or seeking confidential spiritual counseling.