In some ways, that may be the easiest part of his job.

"This is going to reinforce a kind of vulnerability that we as Americans have not had to face before," said Millspaugh, who also is president of the Association of Professional Chaplains.

"We have a national identity but most of us also have a spiritual identity. It will be a time when we all will be searching for what are our deeper roots."

As the country reels from the catastrophic attacks on its metropolitan centers, chaplains and other religious leaders are offering advice on how to cope.

Chaplain David DeRevere, executive director of the International Conference of Police Chaplains, advises: "Number 1, stay calm. Number 2, spend some time in prayer, and Number 3, talk with other people that you know and … turn to a neighbor and give them a hug."

As religious leaders address the crisis, they're recommending prayer for both the victims and the perpetrators.

"I think in this case, the best thing for us to do is just wait and pray, and pray for those who are dead and those who are yet alive but are dead inside to even order this kind of thing," said the Rev. George Langhorne, director of chaplaincy and pastoral counseling for American Baptist Churches USA.

Gil Stricklin, president of Marketplace Ministries, a Dallas-based network of workplace chaplains, said the crisis will prompt everything from spontaneous prayers—in offices as well as churches—to individual introspection.

"We know that life is very fragile, that when we go ...