Wanted: Military chaplains to minister to people in uniform
Craig M. Kibler, The Layman Online , June 21, 2006
217th General Assembly
Birmingham, Ala. BIRMINGHAM — “Please pray for our chaplains as they minister to persons in uniform.”
This simple phrase was written on a handout displayed in the booth of the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel in the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex during the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). It eloquently expresses the need chaplains feel in a culture living through the worldwide war on terror, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the deployment of American troops worldwide and at home, and a host of other issues.
Presbyterian chaplains, like those of their counterparts in other denominations, are feeling the crunch of budget cuts and the inevitable downsizing — and some feel more reductions are ahead. In 1988, the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel endorsed about 220 chaplains for active duty, according to Thomas K. Chadwick, the council’s associate director. Today, not counting Reserve and National Guard chaplains, the council endorses about 140 chaplains.
A chaplain in the booth said only about 80 percent of the chaplain slots authorized in the National Guard are filled, and that some chaplains “are on their second tours” in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
The chaplains in the booth said that, in short, more chaplains are needed to handle the multitudinous challenges they face in ministering to people in uniform. They provided a handout with composites of some of the real-life stories they face in ministering to people in often difficult conditions:
- My name is Jessica. I am 23 years old. I joined the National Guard to provide Christmas money for my family, now I am in Iraq. I just found out my husband has moved his old girlfriend into our apartment and she hates my baby. I am scared and I have to the drive the commander on a convoy to Camp Anaconda. God help me. God protect my baby. God help me. Please pray for me.
- My name is First Sergeant Mix. I am 44 years old and a professional soldier. I have served in Panama, Desert Storm, Bosnia and now Iraq. This is my last tour of duty. I have tagged and bagged too many young people over the years and I have seen religion used as a weapon to motivate killing. I come to chapel because I still have hope that God can forgive me for all I have done. My Dad and Mother still pray on their knees for me. Now, I have this last tour and I go home. Now, I am learning to pray on my knees that I can get these kids home to their parents and children. They are all my kids and I want to protect them all. I am grieving I am I am leaving the Army and it’s all I have known. Please pray for me.
- My name is Sergeant Sharon. I am 25. I have a reputation as being a very good non-com “who can get the job done,” but I have never ever been so confused in my personal life. My kids miss me so much. My mother is watching the first steps of my daughter and my son is playing soccer like a big boy. I am worried because he keeps getting into fights at kindergarten. The teacher says it’s stress about me being here. I am in Supply, so I am safe most of the time. How do you tell a 5-year-old that? I came in the Army to make a life for my son and I. Now, I have a little girl and her father is over here, too. We want to get married but, so far in the last year, we have seen each other twice. I hear rumors he has a girlfriend at another camp. Do I stay with him or do I move on? I have options. The chaplain says relationships here often don’t last, something about an artificial environment. Well, at least my boyfriend is paying child support. I know we can stay friends. I can take care of millions of dollars of equipment and I am so confused in taking care of me. Please pray for me.
- My name is Staff Sergeant Tex. I am 38 years old. I am a Reservist activated and deployed to Iraq because the Army doesn’t have many people with my skills – I run water treatment plants. I have been married for 15 years and have a beautiful family. I am blessed. God has been very good to me. Last night, I got an e-mail from my wife. She found a bag of crack that apparently fell out of my 13-year-old son’s backpack. They had a fight. My son left home in the middle of the night and we don’t know where he is. I am here helping the Iraqis. I want to be home and be with my wife and my boys. I am scared to death. I was on drugs as a boy and, if God hadn’t given me a born-again experience, I would be dead now. I am worried. Please pray for me. These composite stories illustrate the multitude of demands on those chaplains who are ministering to people in uniform. There is, however, a slight note of hope. One chaplain who teaches at the Air Force Chaplain School at Maxwell Air Force Base said he was encouraged to see five Presbyterian candidates coming through the school, “the most I’ve seen in years. It was refreshing to see.”
More, though, are needed. The qualifications vary as to the category in which an individual seeks to serve as a chaplain, as well as among the branches of the service. More detailed information can be obtained by contacting the numbers below. In general, though, the qualifications usually require that candidates:
- Be a United States citizen.
- Have an ecclesiastical endorsement from a Department of Defense-recognized endorse.
- Have a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Divinity degree in a three-year in-residence program, or the equivalent.
- Pass a commissioning physical and background security investigation.
- Be commissioned prior to age 40 or less than 42 if the candidate has two years of prior honorable military service.
For more information on the various chaplain programs, contact the following: Air Force: Call 1-800-803-2452; Navy: Call 1-800-872-6289; Army: Call 1-800-872-2769.