Category: Chaplain

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A Chaplain’s Accountability to the Church and the Military

It’s important to know that a clergy entering the military as a chaplain or chaplain candidate will have several lines of authorities to answer to. First, of course, is the military chain of command. The chaplain always works for the commander as the commander’s personal staff officer. In this way, every chaplain is held accountable to military standards, in addition to having an opportunity to offer moral, ethical, and spiritual input. Second, the chaplain works for the installation chaplain or the next higher command chaplain. In other words, the chaplain has a technical chain that begins with a senior supervisory chaplain and goes directly to the Chief of Chaplains, ensuring that every chaplain is held accountable to Chaplain Corps standards and methodology. Third, the chaplain has an endorser or denominational “chain of command.” This relationship ensures that the chaplain maintains the theological and lifestyle standards as a representative of his or her faith group.

When you serve as a military chaplain, make it a priority to stay in touch with your church, faith group, and endorser. Send in the reports on time. Live up to your ordination vows. Pay your tithes or dues. If your endorser or faith group doesn’t require these actions, consider doing them anyway. It’s important for you as a chaplain to remember your roots. The chaplain comes from the church and will more than likely want to return to church ministry at some point. So, you can’t afford to lose touch with your denomination. Communication is crucial.

One of the ways many endorsers and denominational offices attempt to stay in touch with their chaplains is by asking the chaplains to send a monthly, quarterly, or annual report. Too many chaplains won’t submit the requested information. Here’s a hint: make up your mind from the start that you will send whatever report they ask for.

But the communication between chaplain and endorser has to be a two-way street. In today’s ever-changing environment in the military, it is extremely important that chaplains and endorsers communicate regularly. There are many ways this communication can take place. Some endorsers conduct periodic Zoom/FaceTime/WebX/Google meetings with their chaplains. Many send out newsletters, while others use social media to connect with chaplains, and chaplains with endorsers. We have to remember that communication is the key. When we communicate with each other, we provide a layer of accountability that endorsers and chaplains need in their ministry.

Another crucial concept is that although culture changes, the Gospel does not. Ministerial methods may change, but the message we are trying to communicate to those we serve does not change. The endorser provides leadership for those representing the church in the military, and chaplains need to walk within the guidelines of their particular faith group.

From the book Military Ministry: Chaplains in the Twenty-First Century by Paul E. Linzey and B. Keith Travis.

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Ministry in a Cultural Context

Every chaplain already has the required ministerial experience, education, and other qualifications, so the initial officer training is designed to prepare you mentally, emotionally, and tactically for the service you have entered. Each armed service has its own culture, worldview, and language, and these are important. Therefore, chaplains must get ready to live, work, and minister in that environment. There are some cross trainable tasks for all of the Armed Services Chaplaincies, but the important thing is that you learn these tasks best within the backdrop of the service God has called you to.

When I was a rookie chaplain, my first chaplain mentor said to me, “Here’s my philosophy of serving as a military chaplain: ministry follows friendship. If you love your soldiers and spend time with them and they know you like them, then they’ll come to you when they want to talk about their spiritual need. Just love them, spend time with them, and trust the Holy Spirit to draw them. When they are ready to talk about the Lord, they’ll know who to go to.”

In the same way pastors and missionaries have to learn the cultural context of the people they’re called to serve, chaplains need to understand the new world they’re going to be living in and ministering in for the next twenty years. You need to know the mentality, the lingo, the expectations, and the dress code. You have to know what you can and cannot do, the limitations of your authority, and the freedoms you have in ministry.

Sometimes, there’s a fine line between behavior that earns a medal, and activity that gets you in trouble, so you have to be able to discern the differences and know who you can go to for guidance and accountability. If you do it right, you’ll set yourself up for a successful career of effective ministry, while meeting new people and making friendships that’ll last a lifetime.

The painting below was by Don Stivers on the 100th Anniversary of the United States Army Reserve. I was assigned to the Chaplains Office at the US Army Reserve Headquarters at Fort McPherson, GA at the time, and bought this print. The picture shows some of the many activities and people that military chaplains have served over the past hundred+ years.

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I Wish I Were Catholic

Celebrating Christ’s resurrection is one of the high points of the year for many Christians, both Protestant and Catholic, and to start the day without mortars made it even better. The sun was shining, but it wasn’t hot yet. We enjoyed the music and I preached on the love of God. At the end of the message, I asked everyone to repeat a prayer of commitment to the Lord. Two people confessed faith in Christ for the first time, and it was an awesome celebration of the Resurrection.

The joy and camaraderie continued as we transitioned from worship to fellowship, with twenty-seven of us going to have lunch together. The DFAC staff had decided to make Easter Sunday a special event, so the entire dining area was decorated in Easter colors and themes: banners, a huge Easter Bunny, streamers, and a special holiday menu. The food was always good, with a lot of options. But today we could select whatever our family’s traditional Easter feast was back home: ham, turkey, roast beef, pumpkin pie. They also brought in a sound system and played music all afternoon.

It was just a wonderful day: worship, celebrating the Risen Lord, fellowship with good brothers and sisters in Christ, great weather, and really good food.

After the last of our group left, I decided to go back to the office. The senior chaplain at Camp Victory required each chaplain to send a weekly report. As I was writing the email around two-thirty in the afternoon, I heard the sirens, so I put on my Kevlar vest and helmet and ran down the hall to go out to the bunker, as shrapnel and gravel pelted the roof of the one-story building. The three explosions were really close.

I ducked into the bunker outside the door, the Colonel and Sergeant Major soon joining me. Just three of us this time. On a typical day there might be more than a dozen of us crammed in there.

After we heard the all-clear signal, I said, “Sir, it’s been fun chatting with you, but if you’ll excuse me, I have to run over to the clinic to see if we have any casualties.”

“OK, Chaps. Let me know.”

“Yes, sir. I will.”

The medical clinic was a buzz of activity when I rushed in the front door. About twenty-five people crammed into a lobby that had only a dozen chairs. Six on one side facing the six on the other side. Not your typical waiting room, this area was mostly a place to drop your gear before going in to see a doc or nurse, or before going in to visit a patient.

“How many?” I asked the guy behind the counter.

“Four so far, Chaplain. No deaths reported as far as I know.”

“Thanks.”

“May I go in?” I asked.

“Sure, Chaplain. Go on in.”

When I asked one soldier how he was doing, he began to mutter, and there were tears in his eyes. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, and assumed he was crying because of the pain. He mumbled something again. Then I understood his words and his tears. “I’m hurt, but my best friend is dead.”

“Your friend is dead?” I needed to clarify, because nobody had mentioned this to me.

“Yes. He was standing right next to me. The mortar landed on the other side of him, cutting him in half instantly. My injuries are nothing compared to what happened to him. He saved my life.”

I rushed out to see the receptionist. “Have you guys heard anything about someone being killed in that mortar attack?”

“No, not yet.”

Just then, a Sergeant Major ran in. I hadn’t seen him before. “Chaplain, we need you to come with us. We have a dead soldier and we have to evacuate him immediately. Are you a Catholic priest?”

Others from the unit started pouring into the clinic. During the next half-hour, more than a hundred people asked the same question, “Are you Catholic? Are you a priest?”

Never in my life did it hurt so much to say I was not Catholic. I wanted so badly to say, “Yes, I am a priest.”

The Soldier who died was the most popular guy in the unit. Many of the visiting Soldiers were Catholic, including him. After the dust and smoke cleared, everyone saw him lying on the ground. They were traumatized. He was, in a way, their emotional and spiritual leader–a devout, godly, personable man who cared deeply about each of them. His fellow soldiers loved and respected him. Now they needed a Roman Catholic Priest.

I conducted a flight-line memorial service as the helicopter crew prepared to take off. The men and women of the unit formed a double line extending from the medical clinic to the evac helicopter, wide enough for the funeral procession to march between the saluting soldiers. It was a tragic, but impressive sight. As the Blackhawk rotors thundered overhead, making it almost impossible to hear, I prayed and committed his soul to God. A Catholic chaplain would have to administer Last Rites somewhere else along the way.

For all Christians, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a celebration of life over death, healing after hurting, and overcoming suffering. I had experienced all of it in one day, the good and the bad, and had no idea what the next day or two would bring.

This is an excerpt from my book, Safest Place in Iraq, which is available from any bookseller or from this website.

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Ministry Follows Friendship

In 1986, Blue Diamond Growers in California initiated an ad campaign asking shoppers to buy a can of almonds each week. This was based on the fact that one almond tree produces fifty-two cans of almonds per year, and there are exactly fifty-two weeks in a year. Their slogan? “A can a week, that’s all we ask.” You can still find the old commercials on YouTube.

When I told my wife during a phone call that someone at Camp Echo was coming to faith in Christ every week, she recalled the TV commercial from years earlier and said, “A soul a week, that’s all we ask.” Being from California, I understood the allusion right away.

Linda had been praying that every week, someone would come to faith in Christ, and it was happening: someone at church on Sunday, a visitor to my office during the week, or a soldier in a unit training area. She prayed for the people I was ministering to, and God answered her prayers: a soul a week.

When I was a rookie chaplain, my supervisor showed up one day to mentor me. “Here’s my philosophy of serving as a military chaplain: ministry follows friendship. If you love your soldiers and spend time with them and they know you like them, then they’ll come to you when they want to talk about their spiritual need. Just love them, spend time with them, and trust the Holy Spirit to draw them. When they are ready to talk about the Lord, they’ll know who to go to.”

That sounded pretty good to me, so I adopted his philosophy of chaplain ministry. It was an effective approach throughout my military career, and it was true in Iraq.

Laughin’ and Prayin’

One Tuesday morning a big ol’ boy stepped into my office, and entered the Kingdom of God. He walked in unannounced. “Mind if I drop my body armor, chaplain?” It was already hitting the floor before I had a chance to reply.

“Not at all. Be my guest. Where are you from?”

“I’m from Brevard, North Carolina.”

“Brevard? I’ve been to Brevard.”

“Pity you,” he laughed loud at his own joke. “What were you doin’ in my town?”

“A friend of mine lives there. I was passing through and stopped to visit for a couple hours. Now, what are you doin’ in my office?”

“I grew up in church, but never got serious ‘bout Jesus or nuthin.’ Just out o’ boot camp an’ AIT, an’ they send me here. So, I figure if I’m gonna die right here in the desert at the ripe ol’ age of 19, might as well get saved, confess my sins, whole nine yards, make things right, ya know.”

I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun praying with someone as I did with him that day. Six feet four, a muscular 225-pounder with short brown hair and medium brown eyes. He walked loud, talked loud, and lived loud. I imagine he even sinned loud.

“Hey! I even know what to pray,” he grinned.

“OK, you go first, then I’ll pray.”

“Gotcha!”

He was right; he knew what to do, and he prayed a great prayer. I don’t recall ever hearing someone telling God jokes during a confessional prayer, but he did. We both started laughing. He kept on praying right through our laughter.

“Hey! I bet even the Lord has a sense of humor. Not a problem laughin’ during prayer, is it, Chaplain?”

“Not a problem. I’m sure God is laughing too. Along with all his angels up there!”

“Ha!” Then he started naming his sins from childhood, high school, basic training, all the way up to a couple days ago. Sins with girls, booze, cigarettes, lyin’, stealin’, cheatin’ in school, missin’ church. Then he concluded with, “An’ I ain’t sinned the past coupla days, Lord, so I guess that brings me up to date. Come into my heart. Amen!” Just like that, he was done.

When he finished praying, I was laughing so hard, I don’t think I could have prayed yet, so I suggested that we talk for a while and get acquainted before I take my turn.

A few days before this encounter, he was wearing his body armor while working, and injured his spine. It looked like the Army was getting ready to send him back to Brevard because he was in non-stop pain.

“So, I guess, I’m going home unless Jesus heals me.”

“Well, let’s pray about that too,” I suggested.

“Gotcha! Your turn to pray.”

Besides talking to the Lord about the young man’s back injury, my prayer was that his commitment to Christ would be genuine and lifelong, regardless of whether he stayed in the Army or went home, whether the Lord healed his back or not.

When I finished praying, my new friend looked at me, grinned and said, “Shoot, when I get home an’ show up at church, my pastor’s gonna have a heart attack. I don’t think he ever thought I was gonna get saved. Boy will he be surprised.”

He looked at his watch. “Whoa! Gotta get back to work. Hey! By the way. Can I get a Bible? When’s church?”

I handed him a Bible. “Church is at ten hundred Sunday, nineteen hundred Tuesday, and any time, any day you manage to find me.”

“Great. I’ll be your usher and deacon. You can count on it.” He hefted his body armor and Kevlar, grimaced with pain, and left just as loudly as he came. Just like that, he was gone.

The young man started coming to church. As promised, he got there early to help set up chairs and serve as usher, greeter, deacon, bulletin-passer-outer, altar worker, whatever I asked him to do. He was a tremendous addition to the ministry team. He stayed afterwards to help clean up. Then went to the DFAC with a group of us for lunch. It took about a month for him to process out and return to North Carolina. I wish I could have seen the look on his pastor’s face when he walked in the door of that Baptist church in Brevard.

This is an excerpt from the book Safest Place in Iraq. Available from this website, Amazon, or any book store.

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Qualifications for Military Chaplaincy

As the officer in charge of Army chaplain recruiting at Fort Knox, KY, I met a lot of pastors, priests, rabbis, imams, evangelists, theology students, and seminary professors who inquired about becoming a chaplain. Most of them were good people, effective in service and ministry in their congregations and organizations. Many of them applied and were accepted. Some of them, however, didn’t meet all the criteria. Therefore, it’s important to understand what is required.

A phone call came from the pastor of a large church on the West Coast, who felt the Lord was calling him to become a military chaplain. He wanted to know how long it would take to get in, so he could notify his church board. After getting acquainted a bit, I started asking him about his qualifications. He had more than eight years full-time ministry experience, was in pretty good physical shape, with no criminal history or use of drugs. It was looking like he might be a great applicant for the military chaplaincy . . . until he was asked about his education.

“What do you mean I have to have a Master of Divinity? I have a B.A. in Theology & Ministry from a great university, and I got an A in every single class, and the Lord is calling me to become a chaplain NOW. I don’t want to go back to school.”

“Well, brother, sounds like you’re a great pastor, but you’re just not qualified without an M.Div. If the Lord is calling you, then you need to obey, and the first step is to get into seminary and complete the degree.”

His anger took over from there, and the rest of the call wasn’t very pleasant. Apparently, he had gotten into some sort of trouble, and needed to leave his church immediately. Going into the military would have been a perfect “out.”

A few weeks later, I got a call came from another pastor who felt called to the chaplaincy. When she was told there was an age limit, she asked, “But I heard I could get an age waiver. Can’t I get an exception from the Chief of Chaplains since I’m a bit over the cut-off?”

“Well, ma’am, the current guidelines from the Office of the Chief of Chaplains says he’ll consider age waivers up to forty-six years of age if you have prior military experience, but you’re already fifty with no previous time in service, and though you seem like a fantastic minister of the gospel, there’s no way you can begin a military career at age fifty.”

“Oh, I see.”

There are seven qualifications for every applicant who desires to become a military chaplain: Education, Citizenship, Ministry Experience, Security/Background Check, Medical Exam, Ordination, and Physical Fitness. Every one of these is also a potential disqualifier, which means as far as the military is concerned, it doesn’t matter how good a preacher or counselor you are, if you don’t have all seven qualifications, you’re not going to be a chaplain in the military.

The three military Chiefs of Chaplains have the authority to grant waivers or exceptions for faith groups that have a shortage of chaplains, but those faith groups tend to be Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Muslim. The rest of us need to make sure we understand and match up in all seven ways.

If you’ve done what it takes to fulfill all the qualifications, if you are a good minister who likes people, and if you’re sure this is the direction you’re called to go, chances are, you’re going to fit in really well, make some great friendships, and have a dynamic and effective ministry career.

For a complete understanding of what it’s like to be a chaplain in the Army, Air Force, or the Navy, take a look at the book Military Ministry: Chaplains in the Twenty-First Century. Click on the Books tab above to read more about it.

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Unity in Diversity

There hadn’t been a chaplain at Camp Echo during the three years before I arrived, but now that people were being wounded and some were dying, our leaders decided to send a chaplain. My job was to build a religious program from scratch, take care of the spiritual needs of the people, and provide a “ministry of presence.” To do that, I needed a ministry team. I already had four congregations of prayer partners back in the States. Now I needed “boots on the ground” partners.

My first day at the FOB, somebody told me there was a civilian worker on post who was a pastor before the war. A Baptist preacher from North Carolina, James had been leading a Bible study every Sunday morning for the past year. In essence, he had been the only pastoral presence for the people at Camp Echo.

James worked the night shift, so on Friday night, the day after I arrived, I went looking for him and found him in his office around eleven p.m. A forty-two-year-old African American, he was a trim five-foot-nine with a ready smile, slight mustache, and graying goatee. He had a gold front tooth, which sometimes gleamed and sometimes was dark, depending on the lighting.

When I walked into his office, he was sitting at his desk. In front of him were two computers, a stack of paperback Bibles, water bottle, calculator, flashlight, thesaurus, telephone, and a fly swatter: things he considered essential. He wore a blue hoodie. I never saw him without that on, no matter how hot it was. He was indeed an ordained Baptist minister, and had heard that a “real chaplain” was coming.

When he saw that I was the new chaplain, he looked at me and grinned, flashing that gold tooth, but he was serious. The first words I heard him say were, “You gonna fire me since you’re a real chaplain an’ I’m not?”

I’ve read a lot of books and articles on various leadership styles and principles, and could easily make a case for asking James to step away from his previous role in the chapel program. It’s a common practice, for example, to bring in an entirely different team when a new leader arrives. Another issue is that a lot of pastors and chaplains want to do all the ministry: preaching, teaching the Bible study, praying for people, and visiting the sick.

But I know how important it is for all God’s people to be involved in ministry. Plus, I had a good feeling about the man, and I wanted to honor him for his faithfulness over the past year of leading the Bible study and praying for people.

So I said, “Pastor James, I have no intention of firing you. You were here ministering when there was no chaplain. Chances are, you might be here after I’m gone. How would you feel about us working together as co-pastors?”

When I called him Pastor James, his eyes opened big and he got excited. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious. There’s plenty to do. You already know everybody on post. You’ve been doing the job of pastor when nobody else was here. Perhaps you could show me around and introduce me to people in the various offices and sections.”

“I can do that,” James offered.

 “And if the war continues, there might be times I have to be at the clinic or visiting another FOB when it’s time for church. I think it’s better if we worked as a team. What do you say? I could use your help.”

“I like that plan,” he said.

When I held out my hand to shake his, he threw his arms around me for a long hug, instead. “What about this Sunday morning?” he asked.

“Why don’t you plan and lead the worship service, and then introduce me as the new chaplain, and I’ll preach,” I suggested. “At the end of the worship service, we’ll serve communion side by side.”

“That’ll work.”

“Then we’ll take it week by week,” I continued. “There’s a lot to do, and we can accomplish more if we work together.”

“Gotta deal.” He showed off that gold tooth again.

The differences between us were obvious: different denominations, different personalities, different spiritual gifts, different skin color, and more. But the fact that we worked together, supported one another, and honored each other had an immediate impact on the people at Camp Echo. Just as important, it seemed the Lord was pleased with the way we handled things, and he blessed our efforts from day one.

The decision to have Pastor James stay involved in the chapel program was a winner. There was a continuity that we were able to build on, and a unity that paved the way for the presence of God and the power of God to be experienced in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

This is an excerpt from the book Safest Place in Iraq. The book won first place gold at the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Literary Awards as well as the first place Peach Award at the North Georgia Christian Writers Conference.

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Danger, Dust, and Death

When they told me where I was going, they said it was the Safest Place in Iraq, but by the time I got there, things had changed. On a Tuesday night, the dining facility was crowded, bustling, with hardly an empty chair, when mortars landed on the building.

People were stunned, walking around like zombies. Most avoided eating in the DFAC, even after it was repaired and they started serving meals again. From that moment, incoming mortars and rockets became part of the routine that was soon to be my daily life.

Men from Diwaniyah would drive to a vacant field on the edge of town, bringing their rockets and mortars to fire at us. They did this in the morning on their way to work. Sometimes it was mid-day during a lunch break, and other times in the evening on their way home from work. Occasionally it was in the middle of the night. Some of the people shooting at us were teens or even younger. Often, they would launch their missiles-of-death just before, or right after their prayers.

I volunteered to go. My philosophy as a chaplain was that I wanted to be wherever soldiers had to go, and if they were at war, I wanted to be there with them. Not because I enjoy fighting. We all know that a chaplain is a non-combatant. I wasn’t there to fight.

I was there to encourage, counsel, and pray; provide worship opportunities, friendship, and guidance; nurture the living, care for the wounded, and honor the dead; and guarantee the constitutional freedom of worship to men and women of all faiths, and the same freedom to men and women of no faith. Camp Echo was my home, my parish, my fiery furnace.

I knew from the start that I could be wounded or killed. It was a weird feeling, and I came to accept it. How or when, I had no idea. But every time there was another explosion, I wondered if this was the day.

My wife also knew I might not make it home alive. Or if I did return, I might be a broken man–crippled, blind, psychologically damaged, or all of the above. With that possibility in mind, she told me before I left home, “I don’t want to find out after you get back or after you’re dead that you were in danger. I want to know right away.”

The first time I mentioned during a phone call some of the dangerous things that were happening, she said, “I already know. I saw it on TV and in the newspaper. They’re mentioning Diwaniyah and Camp Echo by name.” She scanned and sent me an LA Times article. I took it to our staff meeting the next morning, and discovered that many on our leadership team didn’t know what was going on outside the wire.

Danger, dust, and death formed the context for the job I was sent to do. Operating from the philosophy that “ministry follows friendship,” I built relationships among the men and women at Camp Echo: military, civilian, American, and Coalition. This allowed me to be there when they were at their best and when they were at their worst, in their strongest moments and in their weakest.

In the heat of the battle and the heat of the desert, hours turn into days, which transition to nights, and add up to weeks and then months. The conditions wear you down, leaving an imprint on your mind and your soul: images that will be seen in dreams for months or years, sounds that reverberate long after you’re home, people you befriended and cared about and stared at death with, but will probably never hear from again. For many of us, it’s only memory now. But for others, the war continues … on the inside.

An excerpt from the book, Safest Place in Iraq, published by Morgan James Faith.

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Jesus, Peter, and a Centurion

Jesus was not in the military and did not routinely go out of his way to minister to soldiers. Yet a Roman centurion who needed help came to Jesus.

Jon Bloom, a staff writer for an organization called Desiring God, makes the following observation: Luke 7:9 and Matthew 8:10 use the Greek word thaumazo (thou-mad’-zo) which is translated as “marveled” or “amazed” to describe Jesus’s response to the centurion’s faith. The only other time this word is used to describe the Lord’s response to other people’s faith is in Mark 6:6, when he marvels at the lack of faith in the people of Nazareth, his hometown.

Bloom calls this centurion a “firstfruit and a foreshadow of what Jesus had come to bring about.” It may be that Jesus Himself was the first in the New Testament to minister to people in the military, and the “firstfruit and foreshadow” refers to thousands of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who will come to faith in Christ through the message of the Gospel.

Peter also had an encounter with a centurion. Acts chapter ten tells of Peter’s vision about eating unclean food. In the dream, the Lord told him to stop calling something unclean if the Lord Himself declared it clean. Peter woke up and was thinking about the experience when Cornelius’s representatives arrived. The Lord told Peter to go with the men, so he went to the home of the centurion and proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ. Acts 10:44 says everyone who heard Peter’s message received the Holy Spirit and became believers in Jesus.

In this account, the representative of Christ went to where the soldier was in order to minister to him. This is exactly what a chaplain does: after praying, going to where the people are, spending time with them, and paying attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who opens a door for sharing the message of the Savior.

The significance that Peter attributes to his experience is that the Lord has opened the door for Gentiles to come into the Kingdom of God. But there’s another, more subtle significance that we can’t afford to miss. In the same way that the Church must no longer think of the gentiles as bad people who are outsiders, the Church must not think about people in the military as being unclean or bad. It’s not an accident that the gentile who Peter visited was a military man.

Peter understood that Christians should accept, love, and serve all people, all demographics, and all ethnicities. Nobody is to be considered inferior, less valuable, or unworthy. The same is true for those serving in the military. They are people who need God, need to be loved and accepted, need someone to tell them about Jesus, need someone who’ll be an example of Christian faith and lifestyle.

Military chaplains have an opportunity almost every day to speak about faith, hope, love, and the grace of God. They develop relationships and friendships with the people in the command, and let their light shine. And the fact that chaplains come from all backgrounds and all walks of life allows for a wide variety of methods and opportunities to teach, disciple, and represent the Lord.

This is an excerpt from Military Ministry: Chaplains in the Twenty-First Century by Paul Linzey and Keith Travis.

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Legal Basis of Military Chaplaincy

Before he became our first president, General George Washington was keenly aware of our need for military chaplains. He understood that chaplains, through their life, influence, and preaching, could help his men morally and ethically. He knew the impact chaplains would make by instilling courage and discipline. And he wanted chaplains to counsel the soldiers, visit them when they were sick or wounded, honor the dead, and write letters home for those who could not write.

Apparently, the Founding Fathers didn’t question whether a military chaplaincy was needed. It seems they merely adopted the British practice without debate. On July 29, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized a chaplaincy for the Continental Army and decided that the chaplains would be paid. In 1777, they authorized a chaplain for each Army brigade. By 1791, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified, guaranteeing freedom of speech and freedom of religion for every citizen, including people serving in our military.

These early actions by the United States Congress in the late 1700s served as the legal foundation and paved the way for further refinements as we shaped the military chaplaincies. When he was a congressman, James Monroe had voted in favor of a military chaplaincy on several occasions. Then as president, in 1814, he signed the explicit authorization for military chaplains. In 1818, a chaplain was authorized for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In 1838, congress passed more sweeping legislation providing military chaplains at frontier forts, military hospitals, and other military schools. Also included were chaplains for the Navy and for Congress itself. By that point, the legal grounds for a military chaplaincy were firmly in place, and they endure to this day.

In 1861, Congress directed military commanders to weed out undesirable or unqualified chaplains because not everyone serving as a chaplain was qualified or was behaving properly.

It wasn’t until 1917 that Congress authorized minority faith groups to have military chaplains. Previously, all chaplains were Christians, the vast majority being Protestant. This new legislation, however, allowed Jewish rabbis to serve as military chaplains, and eventually let representatives of other minority religious groups serve as well, such as Buddhists and Muslims.

Following WWII, the Geneva Convention established the Law of Armed Conflict, which designated chaplains as noncombatants who are not allowed to fight, and who should be protected during battle. The United States was one of the first to sign the agreement to the Geneva Convention guidelines.

By 1956, Title 10 of the United States Code had been approved. This important legislation significantly expands and identifies the roles and functions of military chaplains. Because of the scope of this legislation, anyone interested in the military chaplaincy should read it thoroughly. According to Title 10, the military will fund and maintain a military chaplain corps and retain chaplains.

There have been some significant policies, instructions, manuals, pamphlets, memos, and regulations prepared by the Department of Defense and the various military departments that shed light on the role, function, and tasks of military chaplains.

Chaplains have to know the law. They’ve got to understand current policy, and must build a good working relationship with the commander and command staff, as well as with officers, enlisteds, and NCOs. All commanders are well trained and knowledgeable when it comes to issues related to religion. However, some of them are “anti-religion,” while some go overboard promoting religion. Others don’t care at all about religion, and want to take funds earmarked for religious programs and use the money for other priorities. Therefore, chaplains have to be well informed and strong enough to tell commanders what is right or wrong when it comes to implementing their religious programs.

If we do our homework and maintain proper relationships, we have an open door for an incredible ministry and an opportunity to impact countless lives on behalf of the Kingdom of God.

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Freedom of Religion in the Military

Throughout most of the twentieth century, understanding the Constitution and how it affected the work of chaplains didn’t seem all that important. Today, however, it is imperative for every chaplain in the Armed Services to fully understand the Constitution, the Establishment Clause, and the Free Exercise Clause because there is so much at stake.

The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from creating an official state religion. Although the precise definition of “establishment” is unclear, historically it referred to government-sponsored churches or religions, such as the Church of England, or any of the other officially recognized national religions throughout the world.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

The Free Exercise Clause, on the other hand, extended religious protection to individuals, giving them the right to practice the religion of their choice without fear of punishment or negative consequences.

Although the Constitution deals with religious freedoms for all citizens, it doesn’t specify or authorize a military chaplaincy. Our government and military leaders have decided that having military chaplains is the best way for the constitutional rights and privileges of military personnel to be guaranteed, implemented, and supervised.

In essence, citizens of the United States don’t lose their constitutional rights when they enlist or become an officer in the military.

There have been many challenges to having chaplains in the military and there will be more, but each case inevitably comes back to the Constitution’s Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause. In a nation where people of many faiths live side-by-side, the First Amendment’s free exercise clause protects individuals from government interference in the practice and expression of their faith. The government cannot target laws at specific religious practices or place undue burdens on its citizens who want to worship.

Constitutional authority travels in a direct chain of command: from the Constitution, to the President, to the Secretary of Defense, to the Pentagon, to the Branches of Service, on down to the unit Commanders. The chaplain is the commander’s personal staff officer who is delegated the task of implementing and supervising the constitutional religious freedoms, restrictions, and opportunities. In essence, the religious program in the military belongs to the commander, and the chaplain works for the commander to make sure it is done properly and legally. That’s why every chaplain must understand the constitutional issues.

An important consideration to keep in mind here is that it’s the government that is specifically limited by the constitutional amendment. Because religious freedom is an important part of our national values, the government isn’t allowed to restrict those rights or to infringe on the individual’s free exercise of religion. Nor can the government impose religion onto the individual. This is particularly relevant to commanders and chaplains in the military.

The commander has legal and constitutional authority; the chaplain is the subject matter expert who provides ministry for those of his or her faith group, facilitates meeting the religious needs for those of other faith groups, and ensures that all personnel have the opportunity to practice their constitutional freedoms. And because of the Establishment Clause, the chaplain also makes sure nobody is coerced or forced to worship, and that nobody is subjected to presentations of religion against his or her will.

It’s important to note that the Constitution is the authority that gives chaplains the right to express their faith in a secular and pluralistic environment. But it also provides limitations that chaplains must respect. Otherwise, it is possible for chaplains to find themselves caught between the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.

These clauses were written into the constitution to protect churches from government, and also to protect individuals from religion, because freedom to worship also includes freedom not to worship.

Christians have freedoms, yet so does everyone else in the Armed Forces, and those freedoms are guaranteed. Chaplains have a crucial role in how religious rights play out in the military, and we need to know our role.

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