Reflections on Reserve Chaplaincy

Dear GBC Family,
I have been encouraged of late to share with you some of the aspects of ministry that are accomplished through your continuing support of my service as an Army Reserve Chaplain. I regret that my reports on this ministry have been sparse and I thank those of you who have gently admonished me to share about this important ministry in which we participate together. I want you to know I appreciate your willingness to sacrifice on behalf of our soldiers and their families in the Army Reserve. A chaplain does many things but the core of what we do is to: care for the living, comfort the dying and honor the dead. I work to accomplish these things of behalf of the Lord Jesus with the full intent of ministering the gospel to as many soldiers and their families as possible.

First I would like to share how blessed I am personally for this opportunity to take the gospel to our soldiers. I am able to be unashamedly a person of conviction and faith with them and to proclaim the genuine word of God in the worship services I conduct. I have a hard time expressing how connecting with these soldiers (most of whom are 18 to 30 years of age) energizes my own life and service to Jesus. One of the main testimonies to the connections I have made with soldiers is the number of them that have included me in their personal lives. Often this is done by asking me to perform their wedding or to conduct funerals for their loved ones. I truly feel that through this ministry we extend our church to encompass and bless the lives of those who serve.

Second I would like to give you more of a detailed report of what I do as a chaplain. On a typical battle assembly weekend (formerly known as drills, these are the monthly training sessions that all Reserve and National Guard soldiers attend) I participate in numerous events. I conduct chapel services, counsel with soldiers and sometimes their spouses, visit the various training events and simply talk with them about their lives. I also train with them in the skills that are needed to be a soldier in today’s world like, combat lifesaving, understanding different cultures, using a radio, etc. During these times I just get to know them so that they feel free to talk about their lives and share their struggles. I also train and conduct life enrichment weekends (retreats for soldiers that are getting ready to deploy or have recently returned) for both couples and single soldiers. I usually do two of these weekends a year. I really enjoy these opportunities to speak in to the lives of soldiers. To try to quantify what I do, over the last year I have visited with 600 different soldiers. I have individually counseled with 70 on various issues confronting them. I have conducted 10 worship services, two enrichment weekend retreats and numerous briefings for the soldiers. I also am called on frequently to serve on an honor guard for the funerals of service members who request military honors. Some of the tougher things I do involve crisis intervention. In this year alone I have spent a lot of hours on the phone, and many in person as well, helping soldiers in crisis. I cover everything from PTSD, where I work with my command to get them into the best treatment possible, to personal counseling on relationships that are splintering. These interventions are usually made possible because I have developed a relationship with a soldier and they feel open to talk with me.

Third, I serve as a staff officer to a command. In my duty as a Chaplain on the staff I advise the commander on issues of religion, morals and ethics, morale related to religious issues, and some cases of soldier discipline. In this role I become the voice of faith amid the stress of command decisions. It is my job to speak for the soldier in matters of freedom of religion and to help steer a path that is moral and ethical without compromising the mission we have to accomplish.
Finally I want simply to say thank you again. By allowing me this privilege you participate in serving those who have offered to make the ultimate sacrifice in a free nation. These Reserve soldiers come from all walks of life, they are teachers, firemen, police officers, salespersons at Home Depot, nurses, doctors, mechanics, students, doctors, contractors, carpenters. Just look around you some time and you will find those who have dedicated themselves to the preservation of our way of life. They are citizen soldiers many of whom have already served multiple tours of duty in harm’s way. I am blessed to serve them and to call them my friends.